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HISTORY 


OF THE 

UNITED STATES. 

PREPARED 

ESPECIALLY FOR SCHOOLS. 


NEW AND COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, EMBRACING THE FEATURES 


LIMAN’S HISTORICAL CHART. 

By JOHN CLARK RIDPATH, A. M., LL. I) 

I I 

Professor of History in DcPauw University; Author of A Cyclopcedia of Universal History; A Popular 
History oj the United States; A Grammar School History of the United States, etc., etc. 


ACADEMIC EDITION. 


ILLUSTRATED WITH CHARTS, MAPS. PORTRAITS. SKETCHES AND DIAGRAMS 


NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO 

AMERICAN ROOK COMPANY 







■» 


ITfnrLlBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

Al!G. 18 1902 


Copyright entry 
Wki T.y-i'iov 
JL.ASS XXa No. 

3 K X 3 

COPY B. 


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, bv 
J. T. JONES, 

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
Copyright, 1902, by Roxana S. Ridpatb. 




♦ *•••••• • 

• J • • « * • 

* • •• • » • * « 


• •• • ••«*••• 



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i.&.’Ur, 


PREFACE. 



To every American citizen some knowledge of the history of his 
country is indispensable; the more thorough that knowledge the 
better for the Republic. The place where the foundation of such 
knowledge is laid is the school-room, the academy, and the college. 

A desire to aid the vast army of American students in the ac¬ 
quirement of this most important but difficult branch of study, has 
been my motive in preparing and offering to the public A New 
Manual of Untted States History —a work designed as a text¬ 
book for the use of High Schools, Academies, and Colleges. 

In the preparation of this work, the following objects have been 
kept in view: 

I. To give an accurate and spirited Narrative of the principal 
events in our national history from the discovery of the continent 
to the present time. 

II. To discuss the Philosophy of that history as fully as possi¬ 
ble within the narrow limits of the work. 

III. To preserve a clear and systematic Arrangement of the sev¬ 
eral subjects, giving to every fact, whether of peace or war, its true 
place in the narrative. 

IV. To give an Objective Representation, by means of charts, 
maps, diagrams, etc., of the more important events in the history 
of the country. 

V. To secure a Style and Method in the book itself which should 
be in keeping with the spirit and refinement of the times. 

Whether these important ends have been attained, it is not my 
province to decide. I have labored earnestly to reach the ideal of 
such a work ; and if success has not rewarded the effort, the failure 
has been in the execution rather than in the plan and purpose. 

I surrender the book, thus undertaken and completed, TO the 
teachers of our country, asking a considerate judgment and just 
recognition of whatever worth the work may be found to possess. 

J. C. R. 


DePauw University, 
July , 1885. 


(i) 



ANALYSIS 


PART I. 

ABORIGINAL AMERICA. 

Ehapter 

I.—Origin, Distribution, and Character of the Red Men. 


PART II. 

VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


I.—The Icelanders and Norwegians in America. 

II—Spanish Discoveries. 

III. —Spanish Discoveries —Continued. 

IV. — 1 The French in America. 

V.—English Discoveries and Settlements. 

VI—English Discoveries and Settlements—Continued 

^IT.—Voyages and Settlements of the Dutch. 

Recapitulation. 

Vocabulary. 


13-15 

15-19 

19-27 

28-34 

34-43 

43-49 

50-52 

53-55 

56 


PART III. 
COLONIAL HISTORY. 
FIRST DIVISION : VIRGINIA. 


I.—The First Charter. 57-66 

II.—The Second Charter. 66-69 

III. —The Third Charter. 10-75 

IV. —The Royal Government. 76-84 

Recapitulation. . 85-86 


SECOND DIVISION : NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. 


I.—Massachusetts.—Settlement... 87-97 

II.—Massachusetts.—The Union. 97-103 

III. —Massachusetts.—King Philip’s War. 103-111 

IV. —Massachusetts.—War and Witchcraft... 111-117 

V.—Massachusetts.—Wars of Anne and George. 117-124 

VI.—Connecticut. 124-132 

VII.—Rhode Island. 132-138 

VIII.—New Hampshire. 138-142 

Recapitulation. 142-144 

THIRD DIVISION : MIDDLE COLONIES. 

I.—New York.—Settlement. 145-151 

II.—New York.—Administration of Stuyvesant. 151-155 

III. —New York under the English. 156-167 

IV. —New Jersey. 167-172 

V.—Pennsylvania. 173-179 

Recapitulation. 179-181 

FOURTH DIVISION : MINOR SOUTHERN COLONIES. 

I.—Maryland. 182-190 

II — North Carolina. 190-195 

Gi) 



































ANAL YSIS. 


ill 


Chaftek p 1GK 

III.—South Carolina. 196-203 

IV— Georgia. 204-211 

Recapitulation. 211-212 

FIFTH DIVISION : FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

I —Causes. 213-221 

II.—Campaigns of Washington and Braddock. 221-227 

III. —Ruin of Acadia. 227-230 

IV. —Expeditions of Shirley and Johnson. 230-232 

V —Two Years of Disaster. 233-236 

VI.—Two Years of Successes. 236-243 

Recapitulation. 243-244 

Vocabulary. 245-246 


PART IV. 

REVOLUTION AND CONFEDERATION. 


I.—Causes. 247-258 

II.—The Beginning. 259-267 

III. —The Work of ’76. 267-279 

IV. —Operations of ’77. 279-290 

V.—France to the Rescue. 290-295 

VI.—Movements of ’79 . 296-301 

VII.—Reverses and Treason. 301-307 

VIII.—The End. 307-318 

IX.—Confederation and Union.318-323 

Recapitulation. 323-326 

Vocabulary. 326 


PART V. 

NATIONAL PERIOD. 

I.—Wash ington’s Admi n istrat ion. 

II.—Adams’s Administration. 

III. —Jefferson’s Administration. 

IV. —Madison’s Administration and the War of ’12. 

V.—War of ’12.—Continued. 

VI.—The Campaigns of T4. 

VTI.—Monroe’s Administration. 

VIII.—Adams’s Administration. 

IX.—Jackson’s Administration. 

X.—Van Buren’s Administration. 

XI.—Administrations of Harrison and Tyler. 

XII.—Polk’s Administration and the Mexican War. 

XIII. —Administrations of Taylor and Fillmore. 

XIV. —Pierce’s Administration. 

XV.—Buchanan’s Administration. 

XVI.—Lincoln’s Administration and the Civil War. 

XVII.—The Causes. 

XVIII.—First Year of the War. 

XIX.—Campaigns of ’62. 

XX.—The Work of ’63. 

XXI.—The Closing Conflicts. 

XXII.—Johnson’s Administration. 

XXIII .—Gran t’s Administration. 

XXIV.—Hayes’s Administration. 

XXV.—Administrations of Garfield and Arthur. 

XX VI.—Cleveland’s Administration... 

XXVII.—Harrison’s Administration. 

Recapitulation. 

Index. 


327-333 
333-336 
336-344 
344-351 
352-359 
359-367 
367-372 
372-374 
374-380 
380-383 
383-388 
388-399 
400-105 
405-407 
408-413 
413-416 
416-419 
420-425 
425-435 
435-444 
444-459 
459-463 
464-476-^ 
476-485 — 
485-494 
494-510 
510-511 
512-519 
521 























































ILLUSTRATIONS 


I. CHARTS. 


Chart I.—Voyage and Discovery. 

Chart II—Colonial Period. 

Chart III.—Revolution and Confederation. 

Chart IV.—National Period—First Section. 

Chart V.—National Period—Second Section. 

Chart VI.—National Period—Third Section. 

II. MAPS. 


Map I.—Aboriginal America. 

Map II.—Voyage and Discovery. 

Map III.—English Grants.... 

Map IV.—French, English, Dutch, Swedish, and Spanish Provinces 

Map V.—The United States at the Close of the Revolution. 

Map VI.—The United States, 1876..... 

Map VII.—The Territorial Growth of the United States. 

III. PORTRAITS. 


r*AGfc / 

. 16 V 

. 60 V, 

. 254 C 
. 328 V, 

. 372 / 

. 406 

/ 

. 34 
. 44 / 

. 152 /. 

. 816 // 
460 /' 

. 464^/ 


Adams, Samuel.... 

Adams, John. 

Arthur, Chester A.. 

Baltimore, Lord. 

Black Hawk... 

Calhoun, John C. 

Chase, Salmon P. 

Clay. Henry. 

Cleveland, Grover.... ... 
Columbus, Cristopher 

Davis, Jefferson. 

Farragut, David G. 

Franklin, Benjamin. .. 

Fulton, Robert. 

Garfield, James A._ 

Grant, Ulysses S. 

Greeley, Horace... 

Greene, Nathaniel. 

Hamilton, Alexander. 
Harrison, Benjamin.., 
Hayes, Rutherford B. 

Henry, Patrick. 

Houston, Sam. 

Jackson, Andrew. 


Pagb 

. 257 
. 334 
. 490 
. 183 
11 
, 404 
. 463 
. 402 


494 

16 

422 


•299 

34§ 

486 

464 

468 

813 


321 

511 


477 

252 

409 

3751 


Jackson, Stonewall. 

Jefferson, Thomas. 

La Fayette, Marquis de.. 

Lee, Robert E. 

Lincoln, Abraham. 

Marshall, John.. 

Morse, Samuel F B. 

Norse* Sea-King... 

Oglethorpe, James.. 

Penn. William. 

Scott, Winfield. 

Seward, William H. 

Sheridan. Philin H. 

Sherman, Willian T.. 

Smith, John... . 

Stephens, Alexander H, 

Stuyvesant, Peter.. 

Sumner, Charles. 

Taylor, Zachary. 

Thomas, George H.. 

Washington, George. 

Webster, Daniel. 

Winthrop, John. 

Winthrop, the Younger 
Wolfe, James. 


IV. TOPOGRAPHICAL DIAGRAMS. 


442 

337 
371 
433 
414 

338 
387 

14 

205 

175 

397 

425 

493 

449 

58 

412 

155 

470 

400 

448 

327 

376 

91 

130 

241 


Jamestown and Vicinity. 65 

Early Settlements in New England. 95 

First Scene of King Philip’s War. 104 

Second “ “ “ “ “ .. 105 

Third “ “ “ “ “ . 107 

Siege of Louisburg. 122 

Scene of the Pequod War..... 127 

East and West Jersey. 169 

Philadelphia and Vicinity. 177 

Country of the Savannah. 208 

First Scene of French and Indian War... 219 

Scene of Braddock’s Defeat.. 226 

The Acadian Isthmus. 228 

Vicinity of Lake George.231 

Vicinity of Quebec. 240 

Scene of the Battle of Bunker Hill..... 262 

Siege of Boston. 268 

Battle of Long Island. 273 

Scene of Operations about N. Y . 276 

Battles of Trenton and Princeton. 278 


Scene of Burgoyne’s Invasion. 285 

Encampment at Valley Forge. 289 

Siege of Charleston. 302 

Scene of Operations in the South.. 304 

Scene of Arnold’s Treason. 306 

Siege of Yorktown. 315 

Scene of Hull’s Campaign. 343 

The Niagara Frontier. 351 

Scene of the Creek War.’ 355 

Scene of Taylor’s Campaign. 339 

Scene of Scott’s Campaign.’ 394 

Scene of Operations in West. Va." 420 

Vicinity of Manassas Junction. ^21 

Scene of Operations in the South-west..... 423 
Scene of Campaigns in Va., Md. and Pa .. 43> 

Vicinity of Richmond. 434 

Vicksburg and Vicinity. 437 

Sherman’s Campaign. 443 

Operations in Virginia. 453 

Scene of the Sioux War, 1876. 474 


V. SKETCHES. 


Specimen of Indian Writing. 

The Treaty between Governor Carver and Massasoit.. 

Roger Williams’s Reception by the Indians. 

The Old Stone Tower at Newport. 

The Exile of the Ac.adians. 

Main Exposition Building. 

The Memorial Hall. 


Civ) 


10 

88 

93 

135 

229 

472 

473 
















































































































INTRODUCTION. 


The history of every nation is divided into periods. For a while 
the genius of a people will be turned to some particular pursuit. 
Men will devote themselves to certain things and labor to accom¬ 
plish certain results. Then the spirit of the age will change, and 
historical facts will assume a different character. Thus arises what 
is called a Period in History. In studying the History of the 
United States it is of the first importance to understand the periods 
into which it is divided. 

2. First of all, there was a time when the New World was under 
the dominion of the aborigines. From ocean to ocean the copper- 
colored children of the woods ruled with undisputed sway. By bow 
and arrow, by hatchet and flint, the Red man supported his rude 
civilization and waited for the coming of the pale-faced races. 

3. After the discovery of America, the people of Europe were 
more than a hundred years in making themselves acquainted with 
the shape and character of the New World. During that time 
explorers and adventurers went everywhere and settled nowhere. 
To make new discoveries was the universal passion; but nobody 
cared to plant a colony. As long as this spirit prevailed, historical 
events bore a common character, being produced by common causes. 
Hence arose the second period in our history—the Period of Voy¬ 
age and Discovery. 

4. As soon as the adventurers had satisfied themselves with trac¬ 
ing sea-coasts, ascending rivers and scaling mountains, they began 
to form permanent settlements. And each settlement was a new 
State in the wilderness. Every voyager now became anxious to 
plant a colony. Kings and queens grew anxious to confer their 
names on the towns and commonwealths of the New World. Thus 
arose a third period—the Period of Colonial History. 


(v) 



VI 


INTRODUCTION. 


5. Then the colonies grew strong and multiplied. There were 
thirteen little sea-shore republics. The people began to consult 
about their privileges and to talk of the rights of freemen. Op¬ 
pression on the part of the mother-country was met with resist¬ 
ance, and tyranny with defiance. There was a revolt against the 
king; and the patriots of the different colonies fought side by side, 
and won their freedom. Then they built them a Union, strong 
and great. This is the Period of Revolution and Confederation. 

6. Then the United States of America entered upon their career 
as a Nation. Three times tried by war and many times vexed with 
civil dissensions, the Union of our fathers still remains for us and 
for posterity. Such is the Period of Nationality. 

7. Collecting these results, we find five distinctly marked periods 
in the history of our country: 

First. The Aboriginal Period ; from remote antiquity to the 
coming of the White men. 

Second. The Period of Voyage and Discovery; A. F. 986- 
1607. 

Third. The Colonial Period; A. D. 1607-1775. 

Fourth. The Period of Revolution and Confederation; 
A. D. 1775-1789. 

Fifth. The National Period; A. D. 1789-1889. 

In this order the History of the United States will be presented 
in the following pages. 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


PART I. 

ABORIGINAL AMERICA. 


CHAPTER I. 


THE RED MEN. 

T HE primitive inhabitants of the New World were the Red men 
called Indians. The name Indian was given to them from their 
supposed identity with the people of India, Columbus and his follow¬ 
ers believed that they had reached the islands of the far East, and that 
the natives were of the same race with the inhabitants of the Indies. 
The supposed similarity between the two peoples, if limited to 
personal appearance, had some foundation in fact; but in manners, 
customs, and character, no two races could be more dissimilar 
than the American aborigines and the inhabitants of China and 
Japan. 

2. The origin of the Indians is involved in great obscurity. At 
what date or by what route they came to the New World is unknown. 
The notion that the Red men are the descendants of the Israelites is 
absurd. That Europeans or Africans, at some early period, crossed 
the Atlantic by sailing from island to island, seems highly improba¬ 
ble. That the people of Kamtchatka came by way of Behring Strait 
into the northwestern parts of America, has little evidence to support 
it. Perhaps a more thorough knowledge of the Indian languages 
may yet throw some light on the origin and early history of the 
North American races. 

3. The Indians belong to the Bow-and-Arrow family of men. 
Some races cultivate the soil; others have herds and flocks; others 

(7) 




8 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


build cities and ships. To the Red man of the Western continent the 
chase was every thing. To smite with swift arrow the deer and the 
bear was his chief delight and profit. Such a race of men could live 
only" in a country of woods and wild animals. The illimitable hunt¬ 
ing-grounds— forest, and hill, and river — were the Indian’s earthly 
Paradise. 

4. The American aborigines belonged to several distinct families or 
nations. North of the sixtieth parallel of latitude dwelt the Esqui¬ 
maux. The name means the eaters of raw meat. They lived in snow 
huts, or in hovels partly or wholly underground. Sometimes their 
houses were constructed out of the bones of whales and walruses. 
Their manner of life was that of fishermen and hunters. They clad 
themselves in winter with the skins of seals, and in summer with 
those of reindeers. Inured to cold and exposure, they made long 
journeys in sledges drawn by dogs, or risked their lives in open 
boats fighting with whales and polar bears among the icebergs. 

5. The greater portion of the United States east of the Mississippi 
was peopled by the family of the Algonquins. Their original 
home was on the Ottawa River. At the beginning of the seven¬ 
teenth century they numbered fully a quarter of a million. The 
tribes of this great family were nomadic in their habits, roaming 
about from one hunting-ground and river to another. When the 
White man came the Algonquin nations were already declining in 
numbers find influence. The race has now withered to a shadow; 
only a few thousands remain to tell the story of their ancestors. 

6. Around the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario lived the Huron- 
Iroquois. Their domain extended south of the lakes to the valley 
of the Upper Ohio, and eastward to the River Sorel. At the time 
of their greatest power the Huron-Iroquois embraced no fewer than 
nine different nations. The chief of these were the Senecas, Cay- 
ugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks, constituting the famous 
Five Nations of New York. The warriors of this confederacy pre¬ 
sented the Indian character .under its most favorable aspect. They 
were brave, patriotic, and eloquent; not wholly averse to useful in¬ 
dustry; living in respectable villages; tilling the soil with consid¬ 
erable success; faithful as friends, but terrible as enemies. 

7. South of the country of the Algonquins were the Cherokees 
and the Mobilian Nations; the former occupying Tennessee, and 
the latter, the domain between the Lower Mississippi and the Atlan¬ 
tic. The Cherokees were highly civilized for a primitive people, 
and contact with the whites seemed to improve rather than degrade 






































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18 from Washington 13 



innejteg 


I'Cinr uj 

Woods 


X< . x v*v\. v 
Chippewas ) s<> 


iOliBuj/. 


OttawaS 


i Erics 


:kapoos 


Illinois 


'or o>‘ w } 

Sliawnees 


.aroras 


Vfoccovc 


skko^ cC V 


Cuwetm 




MAP 

« 0 R' 61NAL AMe R IC 4 

SHOWING THE -" 

distribution and territorial limits 


Th/ E INDIAN NAT\0^ S 

IN THE NEW WORLD. 


SCALE OP -MILES 


it 95 from Greenwich 


90 


85 


80 


75 




















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































THE RED MEN. 


9 


thorn. The principal tribes of the Mobilians were the Yamassees 
and Creeks of Georgia, the Seminoles of Florida, and the Choctaws 
and Chiekasaws of Mississippi. These displayed the usual disposi¬ 
tion and habits of the Red men. 

8. West of the Mississippi was the great family of the Dakotas, 
whose territory extended from the Arkansas River to the country of 
the Esquimaux, and westward to the Rocky Mountains. Their 
languages and institutions, differing much among the various tribes, 
are not so well understood as those of some other nations. South 
of the Dakotas, in a district nearly corresponding with the State of 
Texas, lived the wild Comanches, whose very name is a synonym 
for savage ferocity. Beyond the Rocky Mountains were the Indian 
nations of the Plains : the widely-spread families of the Shosho- 
NEES, THE SeLISH, THE Kl A MATHS, and THE CaEIFORXTANS. On 
the Pacific slope, farther southward, dwelt in former times the fa¬ 
mous races of Aztecs and Toetecs — the most civilized and least 
warlike of the primitive Indian nations. — The territorial position 
of the various aboriginal families and tribes will be easily under¬ 
stood from an examination of the accompanying map. 

9. The Indians were strongly marked with national peculiarities. 
The most striking characteristic of the race was a certain sense of 
personal independence—willfulness of action — freedom from re¬ 
straint. Next among the propensities of the Red men was the pas¬ 
sion for war — a passion almost universal. Their wars, however, 
were always undertaken for the redress of grievances, real or im¬ 
aginary, and not for conquest. But with the Indian a redress of 
grievances meant a bloody personal vengeance on the offender. 
Revenge was the prime motive in every Indian conflict. To for¬ 
give an injury was considered a shame. The Red men’s strategy 
in war consisted of craft, treachery, and cunning. The open battle 
of the field was unknown among them. Fighting was limited to 
the ambuscade and the massacre. Quarter was rarely asked, and 
never granted. 

10. In times of peace the Indian character appeared to a better 
advantage. But the Red man was always unsocial and solitary. 
He was a man of the woods. He sat apart, communing with him¬ 
self and solitude. He thought the forest better than his wigwam, 
and his wigwam better than the village. The Indian woman was 
a degraded creature—a mere drudge and beast of burden. The social 
principle was at a low ebb among the Indians; family and domestic 
ties almost unrecognized. 


10 


HIS TOR Y OF THE UNITED STATES. 


11. Civil government hardly existed among the native American 
nations. Each tribe had its own sachem, or chieftain, to whom in 
matters of peace and war a certain degree of obedience was rendered. 
Sometimes confederations were formed, based on the ties of kinship or 
the necessities of war. But these confederations seldom lasted long, 

and were like¬ 
ly at any time 
to be broken 
up by the bar¬ 
barous tribes 
who composed 
them. Some¬ 
times a chief¬ 
tain woul d 
arise with such 
marked abili¬ 
ties of lead¬ 
ership as to 
gain an influ¬ 
ence over sev¬ 
eral nations. 
But with the 
death of the 

chief, each tribe would regain its independence and return to its own 
ways. No general Indian Congress was known; but councils were 
frequently called to debate questions of policy and right. 

12. In the matter of the arts the Indian was a barbarian. His 
house was a wigwam or hovel, built of poles set up in a circle, 
and covered with skins and the branches of trees. The door was 
a simple opening opposite the point from which the wind blew; 
the floor and the walls were covered with mats; a fire was kin¬ 
dled on the ground in the center. Household utensils were few and 
rude. Earthen pots, bags and pouches for carrying provisions, and 
stone hammers for pounding corn, were the stock and store. The 
Indian’s weapons of offense and defense were the hatchet and the 
bow and arrow. In times of war he painted his face and body with 
all manner of glaring and fantastic colors. The elegant arts were 
wholly wanting. Indian writing consisted of half-intelligible hiero¬ 
glyphics scratched on the face of rocks or cut in the bark of trees. 

13. The Indian languages bear little resemblance to those of other 
races, but have eqcat similarity among themselves. The vocabulary 



Translation: Eight soldiers (9), with muskets (10), commanded by a cap¬ 
tain (1), and accompanied by a secretary (2), a geologist (3), three attend¬ 
ants (4, 5,6), and two Indian guides, encamped here. They had three camp 
fires (13,14,15), and ate a turtle and a prairie hen (11,12) for supper. 











THE RED MEN. 


11 



of the Red man was a very limited one. The principal objects of 
nature and common actions and emotions had special names; but 
abstract ideas were expressed with great difficulty and almost end¬ 
less circumlocution. Indian words had a narrow but very intense 
meaning. There was, for instance, no word signifying to hunt or 
to fish; but one word 
meant “to-kill-a-deer- 
with - an - arrow; ” an¬ 
other, “ to -take -fish - 
by - striking-the-ice.” 

Among some of the 
tribes the meaning of 
words was so restrict¬ 
ed that the warrior 
would use one term 
and the squaw an¬ 
other to express the 
same idea. 

14. The Indians 
were generally sedate 
in manners and se¬ 
rious in behavior. 

Sometimes, however, 
they gave themselves 
up to merry-making 
and hilarity. The 
dance was universal-- 

not the social dance A north AMERICAN Indian 1 * 

of civilized nations, 

but the dance of ceremony, of religion, and of war. Various amuse¬ 
ments were common, such as running, leaping, wrestling, shooting at 
a mark, racing in canoes along swift rivers or placid lakes, playing 
at ball, or engaging in intricate and exciting games. The use of 
tobacco was universal and excessive; and after the introduction of 
intoxicating liquors by the Europeans, the Indians fell into terrible 
drunkenness. 

15. In personal appearance the Red men were strongly marked. 
In stature they were nearly all below the average of Europeans. 
The Esquimaux are rarely five feet high, but are generally thick¬ 
set and heavy. The Algonquins are taller and lighter in build; a 

authentic portrait of the celebrated Black Hawk, chief of the Sacs and Foxes. 



12 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


straight and agile race, lean and swift of foot. The eyes are jet- 
black and sunken; hair black and straight; beard black and scant; 
skin copper-colored or brown; cheek-bones high; forehead and skull 
variable in shape and proportion ; hands and feet small; body lithe 
but not strong; expression sinister, or rarely dignified and noble. 

16. For centuries the Indian race has been declining. The only 
hope of its perpetuity seems now to center in the Choctaws, Chero- 
kees, Creeks, and Chickasaws of the Indian Territory. These na¬ 
tions, numbering in the aggregate about forty-eight thousand souls, 
have attained a considerable degree of civilization. Most of the 
other tribes seem to be rapidly approaching extinction. Whether 
the Red man has been justly deprived of the ownership of the New 
World will remain a subject of debate; that he has been deprived 
can be none. The white races have taken possession of the vast do¬ 
main. The weaker people has withered from the presence of the 
stronger. By the majestic rivers and in the depths of the solitary 
woods the feeble sons of the Bow and Arrow will be seen no more. 
To the prairies and forests, the hunting-grounds of his fathers, the 
Red man says farewell. 


RECAPITULATION. 

The name Indian. —Origin of the race considered.—Not Israelites.—Not Europeans.— 
The study of language may throw light on the subject.—Devotion of the Indians to the 
chase.—The Esquimaux.—Their position and habits.—The Algonquins.—Their charac¬ 
ter.—The Huron-Iroquois.—Extent of their confederacy.—Cherokees and Mobilians.— 
The Dakotas.—Races of the West.—Indian character.—Passion for wa-.—Disposition 
in peace.—Indian arts.—Implements.—Writing.—Language.—Manners and customs.-^. 
Personal appearance.—Decline of the race.—Prospects. 



PART II 

VOYAGE ANTD DISCOVERY 

A. I>. 9S6—1«07. 


CHAPTER I. 

THE ICELANDERS AND NORWEGIANS IN AMERICA. 

T HE western continent was first seen by white men in A. D. 986. A 
Norse navigator by the name of Herjulfson, sailing from Iceland 
to Greenland, was caught in a storm and driven westward to Newfound- 
fand or Labrador. Two cr three times the shores were seen, but no land¬ 
ing was made or attempted. The coast was low, abounding in forests, 
and so different from the well-known cliffs of Greenland as to make it 
certain that another shore hitherto unknown was in sight. On reaching 
Greenland, Herjulfson and his companions told wonderful stories of the 
new lands seen in the west. 

2. Fourteen years later, the actual discovery of America was made by 
Lief Erickson. This noted Icelandic captain, resolving to know the 
truth about the country which Herjulfson had seen, sailed westward from 
Greenland, and in the spring of the year 1001 reached Labrador. Im¬ 
pelled by a spirit of adventure, he landed with his companions, and made 
explorations for a considerable distance along the coast. The country was 
milder and more attractive than his own, and he was in no haste to return. 
Southward he went as far as Massachusetts, where the daring company 
of Norsemen remained for more than a year. Rhode Island was also 
visited; and it is alleged that the hardy adventurers found their way 
into New York harbor. 

3. What has once been done, whether by accident or design, may easily 
be done again. In the years that followed Lief Erickson’s discovery, 

13 



14 


HISTORY OF THE L NIT ED STATES. 


other companies of Norsemen came to the shores of America, Thorwald, 
Lief v s brother, made a voyage to Maine and Massachusetts in 1002, and is 
said to have died at Fall River in the lattei state. Then another brother, 
Thorstein by name, arrived with a band of followers in 1005; and in 
the year 1007, Thorfinn Karlsefne, the most distinguished mariner 
of his day, came with a crew of a hundred and fifty men, and made ex¬ 
plorations along the coast of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and perhaps as 

far south as the capes of Vir¬ 
ginia. Other companies of 
Icelanders and Norwegians 
visited the countries farther 
north, and planted colonies 
in Newfoundland and Nova 
Scotia. Little, however, was 
known or imagined by these 
rude sailors of the extent 
of the country which they 
had discovered. They sup¬ 
posed that it was only a por¬ 
tion of Western Greenland 
which, bending to the north 
around an arm of the ocean, 
had reappeared in the west. 
The settlements which were 
made were feeble and soon 
broken up. Commerce was 
an impossibility in a country 
where there were only a few wretched savages with no disposition to buy 
and nothing at all to sell. The spirit of adventure was soon appeased, 
and the restless Northmen returned to their own country. To this unde¬ 
fined line of coast, now vaguely known to t hem, the Norse sailors gave 
the name of Vinland ; and the old Icela idic chroniclers insist that it 
was a pleasant and beautiful country. 

4. During the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries occasional 
voyages were made; and as late as A. D. 1347, a Norwegian ship vis¬ 
ited Labrador and the north-eastern parts of the United States. In 
1350 Greenland and Vinland were depopulated by a great plague, 
which had spread thither from Norway. From that time forth com¬ 
munication with the New World ceased, and the history of the North¬ 
men in America was at an end. The Norse remains which have been 
found at Newport, at Fall River, and several other places, seem to 
point clearly to the events here narrated; and the Icelandic historians 
give a uniform and tolerably consistent account of these early exploits 



VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


15 


of their countrymen. When the word America is mentioned in Ice¬ 
land, the schoolboys will at once answer, with enthusiasm, “ Oh, yes; 
Lief Erickson discovered that country in the year 1001.” 

5. An event is to be weighed by its consequences. From the dis¬ 
covery of America by the Norsemen, nothing whatever resulted. The 
world was neither wiser nor better. Among the Icelanders themselves 
the place and the very name of Vinland were forgotten. Europe never 
heard of such a country or such a discovery. Historians have until late 
years been incredulous on the subject, and the fact is as though it had 
never been. The curtain which had been lifted for a moment was 
stretched again from sky to sea, and the New World still lay hidden in 
the shadows. 


CHAPTER II. 

SPANISH DISCOVERIES IN AMERICA. 

I T was reserved for the people of a sunnier clime than Iceland first to 
make known to the European nations the existence of a Western con¬ 
tinent. Spain was the happy country under whose auspicious patronage 
a new world was to be added to the old; but the man who was destined 
to make the revelation was not himself a Spaniard: he was to come from 
genial Italy, the land of olden valor and the home of so much greatness. 
Christopher Columbus was the name of that man whom after ages 
have justly rewarded with imperishable fame. 

2. The idea that the world is round was not original with Columbus. 
Others before him had held a similar belief; but the opinion had been so 
feebly and uncertainly entertained as to lead to no practical results. 
Copernicus, the Prussian astronomer, had not yet taught, nor had Galileo, 
the great Italian, yet demonstrated, the true system of the universe. The 
English traveler, Sir John Mandeville, had declared in the very first 
English book that ever was written (A. D. 1356) that the world is a 
sphere; that he himself, when traveling northward, had seen the polar 
star approach the zenith, and that on going southward the antarctic con¬ 
stellations had risen overhead; and that it was both possible and prac¬ 
ticable for a man to sail around the world and return to the place of 
starting: but neither Sir John himself nor any other seaman of his 
times was bold enough to undertake so hazardous an enterprise. Co¬ 
lumbus was, no doubt, the first practical believer in the theory of cir¬ 
cumnavigation ; and although he never sailed around the world him¬ 
self, he demonstrated the possibility of doing so. 

2 



16 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


3. The great mistake with Columbus and others who shared his opinions 
was not concerning the figure of the earth, but in regard to its size. He 
believed the world to be no more than ten thousand or twelve thousand 
miles in circumference. He therefore confidently expected that after sail¬ 
ing about three thousand miles to the westward he should arrive at the 
East Indies; and to do that was the one great purpose of his life. 

4. Christopher Columbus was born at Genoa, a seacoast town of North¬ 
western Italy, in A. D. 1435. He was carefully educated, and then devoted 

himself to the sea. His 
ancestors had been sea¬ 
men before him. His 
own inclination as well 
as his early training 
made him a sailor. 
For twenty years he 
traversed the Mediter¬ 
ranean and the parts 
of the Atlantic adjacent 
to Europe; he visited 
Iceland; then went to 
Portugal, and finally 
to Spain. The idea 
of reaching the Indies 
by crossing the Atlan¬ 
tic had already pos¬ 
sessed him. For more 
than ten years the poor 
enthusiast was a beg¬ 
gar, going over Eu¬ 
rope, from court to court, explaining to dull monarchs the figure of 
the earth and the ease with which the rich islands of the East might be 
reached by sailing westward. He found one appreciative listener, after¬ 
ward his constant and faithful friend—the noble and sympathetic Isa¬ 
bella, queen of Castile. Be it never forgotten that to the faith, and 
insight, and decision of a woman the final success of Columbus must 
be attributed. 

5. On the morning of the 3d day of August, 1492, Columbus, with 
his three ships, left the harbor of Palos. After seventy-one days of 
sailing, in the early dawn of October 12, Rodrigo Triana, who chanced 
to be on the lookout from the Pinta, set up a shout of “Land!” A gun 
was fired as the signal. The ships lay to. There was music and jubilee. 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 














' 






































































■ 































VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


17 


and just at sunrise Columbus himself first stepped ashore, shook out the 
royal banner of Castile in the presence of the wondering natives, and 
named the island San Salvador. During the three remaining months 
of this first voyage the islands of Concepcion, Cuba and Hayti were 
added to the list of discoveries; and on the bay of Caracola, in the last- 
named island, was erected out of the timbers of the Santa Maria a fort, 
the first structure built by Europeans in the New World. In the early 
part of January, 1493, Columbus sailed for Spain, where he arrived in 
March, and was everywhere greeted with rejoicings and applause. 

6. In September of the following autumn Columbus sailed on his second 
voyage. He still believed that by this route westward he should reach, 
if indeed he had not already reached, the Indies. The result of the 
second voyage was the discovery of the Windward group and the islands 
of Jamaica and Porto Rico. It was at this time that the first colony was 
established in Hayti and Columbus’s brother appointed governor. After 
an absence of nearly three years, Columbus returned to Spain in the sum¬ 
mer of 1496—returned to find himself the victim of a thousand bitter 
jealousies and suspicions. All the rest of his life was clouded with perse¬ 
cutions and misfortunes. He made a third voyage, discovered the island 
of Trinidad and the mainland of South America, near the mouth of the 
Orinoco. Thence he sailed back to Hayti, where he found his colony 
disorganized; and here, while attempting to restore order, he was seized 
by Bobadilla, an agent of the Spanish government, put in chains and car¬ 
ried to Spain. After a disgraceful imprisonment, he was liberated and 
sent on a fourth and last voyage in search of the Indies; but besides 
making some explorations along the south side of the Gulf of Mexico, 
the expedition accomplished nothing, and Columbus, overwhelmed with 
discouragements, returned once more to his ungrateful country. The 
good Isabella was dead, and the great discoverer found himself at last a 
friendless and despised old man tottering into the grave. Death came, 
and fame afterward. 

7. Of all the wrongs done to the memory of Columbus, perhaps 
the greatest was that which robbed him of the name of the new conti¬ 
nent. This was bestowed upon one of the least worthy of the many 
adventurers whom the genius and success of Columbus had drawn to the 
West. In the year 1499, Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine navigator 
of some daring but no great celebrity, reached the eastern coast of South 
America. It does not appear that his explorations there were of any 
great importance. Two years later he made a second voyage, and then 
hastened home to give to Europe the first published account of the 
Western World. Vespucci’s only merit consisted in his recognition of 


18 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


the fact that the recent discoveries were not a portion of that India already 
known, but were in reality another continent. In his published narrative 
all reference to Columbus was carefully omitted; and thus through his 
own craft, assisted by the unappreciative dullness of the times, the name 
of this Vespucci rather than that of the true discoverer was given to the 
New World. 

8. The discovery of America produced great, excitement throughout 
the states of Western Europe. In Spain especially there was wonderful 
zeal and enthusiasm. Within ten years after the death of Columbus, the 
principal islands of the West Indies were explored and colonized. In the 
year 1510 the Spaniards planted on the Isthmus of Darien their first con¬ 
tinental colony. Three years later, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the 
governor of the colony, learning from the natives that another ocean lay 
only a short distance to the westward, crossed the isthmus and from an 
eminence looked down upon the Pacific. Not satisfied with merely seeing 
the great water, he waded in a short distance, and drawing his sword 
after the pompous Spanish fashion, took possession of the ocean in the 
name of the king of Spain. 

9. Meanwhile, Juan Ponce de Leon, who had been a companion 
of Columbus on his second voyage, fitted out a private expedition of dis¬ 
covery and adventure. De Leon had grown rich as governor of Porto 
Rico, and while growing rich had also grown old. But there was a foun¬ 
tain of perpetual youth somewhere in the Bahamas—so said all the learn¬ 
ing and intelligence of Spain—and in that fountain the wrinkled old 
cavalier would bathe and be young again. So in the year 1512 he set 
sail from Porto Rico; and stopping first at San Salvador and the neighbor¬ 
ing islands, he came, on Easter Sunday, the 27th of March, in sight of an 
unknown shore. He supposed that another island more beautiful than 
the rest was discovered. There were waving forests, green leaves, birds 
of song and the fragrance of blossoms. Partly in honor of the day, called 
in the ritual of the Church Pascua Florida, and partly to describe the 
delightful landscape that opened on his sight, he named the new shore 
Florida—the Land of Flowers. 

10. After a few days a landing was effected a short distance north of 
where, a half century later, were laid the foundations of St. Augustine. 
The country was claimed for the king of Spain, and the search for the 
youth-restoring fountain was eagerly prosecuted. The romantic adven¬ 
turer turned southward, explored the coast for many leagues, discovered 
and named the Tortugas, doubled Cape Florida, and then sailed back to 
Porto Rico, not perceptibly younger than when he started. 

11. The king of Spain rewarded Ponce with the governorship of his 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


19 


Land of Flowers, and sent him thither again to establish a colony. The 
aged veteran did not, however, reach his province until the year 1521, 
and then it was only to find the Indians in a state of bitter hostility. 
Scarcely had he landed when they fell upon him in a furious battle; 
many of the Spaniards were killed outright, and the rest had to betake 
themselves to the ships for safety. Ponce de Leon himself received a 
mortal wound from an arrow, and was carried back to Cuba to die. 


CHAPTER III. 

SPANISH DISCOVERIES IN AMERICA.—CONTINUED. 

T HE year 1517 was marked by the discovery of Yucatan and the Bay 
of Campeachy by Fernandez de Cordova. While exploring the 
northern coast of the country, his company was attacked by the natives, 
and he himself mortally wounded. During the next year the coast of 
Mexico was explored for a great distance by Grijalva, assisted by Cor¬ 
dova’s pilot; and in the year 1519, Fernando Cortez landed with his 
fleet at Tabasco and began his famous conquest of Mexico. These events, 
however, do not properly belong to the History of the United States. 

2. Of all the daring enterprises which marked the beginning of the 
sixteenth century, that of Ferdinand Magellan— though not imme¬ 
diately affecting the history of the United States—is worthy of special 
mention. A Portuguese by birth, a navigator by profession, this man, so 
noted for extraordinary boldness and ability, determined to discover a 
south-west rather than a north-west passage to Asia. With this object 
in view, he appealed to the king of Portugal for ships and men. The 
monarch listened coldly, and did nothing to give encouragement. Incensed 
at this treatment, Magellan threw off his allegiance, went to Spain—the 
usual resort of disappointed seamen—and laid his plans before Charles V. 
The emperor caught eagerly at the opportunity, and ordered a fleet of five 
ships to be immediately fitted at the public expense and properly manned 
with crews. 

3. The voyage was begun from Seville in August of 1519. Sailing 
southward across the equinoctial line, Magellan soon reached the coast 
of South America, and spent the autumn in explorations, hoping to find 
some strait that should lead him westward into that ocean which Balbo? 
had discovered six years previously. Not at first successful in this effort, 



20 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


he passed the winter—which was summer on that side of the equator-— 
somewhere on the coast of Brazil. Renewing his voyage southward, he 
came at last to the eastern mouth of that strait which still bears the name 
of its discoverer, and passing through it found himself in the open and 
boundless ocean. The weather was beautiful, and the peaceful deep was 
called the Pacific. 

4. Setting his prows to the north of west, Magellan now held steadily 
on his course for nearly four months, suffering much meanwhile from 
want of water and scarcity of provisions. In March of 1520 he came to 
the group of islands called the Ladrones, situated about midway between 
Australia and Japan. Sailing still westward, he reached the Philippine 
group, where he was killed in a battle with the natives. But the fleet was 
now less than four hundred miles from China, and the rest of the route 
was easy. A new captain was chosen, and the voyage continued by way 
of the Moluccas, where a cargo of spices was taken on board for the market 
of Western Europe. Only a single ship was deemed in a fit condition to 
venture on the homeward voyage; but in this vessel the crews embarked, 
and returning by way of the Cape of Good Hope arrived in Spain on the 
17th day of September, 1522. The circumnavigation of the globe, long 
believed in as a possibility, had now become a thing of reality. The 
theory of the old astronomers, of Mandeville and of Columbus had 
been proved by actual demonstration. 

5. The next important voyage undertaken to the shores of America was 
in the year 1520. Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, who had been a judge 
in St. Domingo and had acquired great riches, conducted the expedition. 
He and six other wealthy men, eager to stock their plantations with slaves, 
determined to do so by kidnapping natives from the neighboring Bahamas. 
Two vessels were fitted out for the purpose, and De Ayllon commanded 
in person. When the vessels were nearing their destination, they encoun¬ 
tered a storm which drove them northward about a hundred and fifty 
leagues, and brought them against the coast of South Carolina. The ships 
entered St. Helena Sound and anchored in the mouth of the Cambahee 
River. The name of Chicora was given to the country, and the river was 
called the Jordan. The timid but friendly natives, as soon as their fears 
had subsided, began to make presents to the strangers and to treat them 
with great cordiality. They flocked on board the ships; and when the 
decks were crowded, De Ayllon, watching his opportunity, weighed 
anchor and sailed away. A few days afterward an avenging storm sent 
one of the ships to the bottom of the sea, and death came mercifully to 
most of the poor wretches who were huddled under the hatches of the 
other. 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


21 


6. Going at once to Spain, De Ayllon repeated the story of his 
exploit to Charles V., who rewarded him with the governorship of 
Chicora and the privilege of conquest. Returning to his province 
in 1525, he found the natives intensely hostile. His best ship ran 
aground in the mouth of the Jordan, and the outraged Indians fell 
upon him with fury, killing many of the treacherous crew, and mak¬ 
ing the rest glad enough to get away with their lives. De Ayllon 
himself returned to St. Domingo humiliated and ruined. Thus ended 
the first disgraceful effort to enslave the Indians. 

7. In the year 1526, Charles Y. appointed the unprincipled Pamphilo 
de Narvaez governor of Florida, and to the appointment was added 
the usual privilege of conquest. The territory thus placed at his disposal 
extended from Cape Sable fully three-fifths of the way around the Gulf 
of Mexico, and was limited on the south-west by the mouth of the River 
of Palms. With this extensive commission De Narvaez arrived at Tampa 
Bay in the month of April, 1528. His force consisted of two hundred 
and sixty soldiers and forty horsemen. The natives treated them with 
suspicion, and, anxious to be rid of the intruders, began to hold up their 
gold trinkets and to point to the north. The hint was eagerly caught at 
by the avaricious Spaniards, whose imaginations were set on fire with the 
sight of the precious metal. They struck boldly into the forests, expect¬ 
ing to find cities and empires, and found instead swamps and savages. 
They reached the AVithlacoochie and crossed it by swimming, they passed 
over the Suwanee in a canoe which they made for the occasion, and finally 
came to Apalachee, a squalid village of forty cabins. This, then, was the 
mighty city to which their guides had directed them. 

8. Oppressed with fatigue and goaded by hunger, they plunged again 
into the woods, wading through lagoons and assailed by lurking savages, 
until at last they reached the sea at the harbor of St. Mark’s. Here they 
expected to find their ships, but not a ship was there, or had been. With 
great labor they constructed some brigantines, and put to sea in the vain 
hope of reaching the Spanish settlements in Mexico. They were tossed 
by storms, driven out of sight of land and then thrown upon the shore 
again, drowned, slain by the savages, left in the solitary woods dead of 
starvation and despair, until finally four miserable men of all the ad¬ 
venturous company, under the leadership of the heroic De Yaca, first 
lieutenant of the expedition, were rescued at the village of San Miguel, 
on the Pacific coast, and conducted to the city of Mexico. The story 
can hardly be paralleled in the annals of suffering and peril. 

9. But the Spaniards were not yet satisfied. In the year 1537 a new 
expedition was planned which surpassed all the others in the brill- 


22 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


iancy of its beginning and the disasters of its end. The most cavalier 
of the cavaliers was Ferdinand de Soto, of Xeres. Besides the dis¬ 
tinction of a noble birth, he had been the lieutenant and bosom friend of 
Pizarro, and had now returned from Peru loaded with wealth. So great 
was his popularity in Spain that he had only to demand what he would 
have of the emperor that his request might be granted. At his own dic¬ 
tation he was accordingly appointed governor of Cuba and Florida, with 
the privilege of exploring and conquering the latter country at his pleasure. 
A great company of young Spaniards, nearly all of them wealthy and 
high-born, flocked to his standard. Of these he selected six hundred of 
the most gallant and daring. They were clad in costly suits of armor 
of the knightly pattern, with airy scarfs and silken embroidery and all 
the trappings of chivalry. Elaborate preparations were made for the 
grand conquest; arms and stores were provided; shackles were wrought 
for the slaves; tools for the forge and workshop were abundantly sup¬ 
plied; bloodhounds were bought and trained for the work of hunting 
fugitives; cards to keep the young knights excited with gaming; twelve 
priests to conduct religious ceremonies; and, last of all, a drove of swine 
to fatten on the maize and mast of the country. 

10. When, after a year of impatience and delay, everything was at last 
in readiness, the gay Castilian squadron, ten vessels in all, left the harbor 
of San Lucar to conquer imaginary empires in the New World. The fleet 
touched at Havana, and the enthusiasm was kindled even to a higher 
pitch than it had reached in Spain. De Soto left his wife to govern Cuba 
during his absence; and after a prosperous and exulting voyage of two 
weeks, the ships cast anchor in Tampa Bay. This was in the early part 
of June, 1539. When some of the Cubans who had joined the expedition 
first saw the silent forests and gloomy morasses that stretched before them, 
they were terrified at the prospect, and sailed back to the security of home; 
but De Soto and his cavaliers despised such cowardice, and began their 
march into the interior. During the months of July, August and Sep¬ 
tember they marched to the northward, wading through swamps, swim¬ 
ming rivers and fighting the Indians. In October they arrived at the 
country of the Apalachians, on the left bank of Flint Kiver, where 
they determined to spend the winter. For four months they remained 
in this locality, sending out exploring parties in various directions. One 
of these companies reached the gulf at Pensacola, and made arrange¬ 
ments that supplies should be sent out from Cuba to that place during 
the following summer. 

11. In the early spring the Spaniards left their winter quarters and con¬ 
tinued their march to the north and east. An Indian guide told them of 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


23 


a powerful and populous empire in that direction; a woman was empress, 
and the land was full of gold. A Spanish soldier, one of the men of 
Narvaez, who had been kept a captive among the Indians, denied the 
truth of the extravagant story; but De Soto only said that he would find 
gold or see poverty with his own eyes, and the freebooters pressed on 
through the swamps and woods. It was April, 1540, when they came 
upon the Ogechee River. Here they were delayed. The Indian guide 
went mad; and when the priests had conjured the evil spirit out of him, 
he repaid their benevolence by losing the whole company in the forest. 
By the 1st of May they had reached South Carolina, and were within a 
two days’ march of where De Ayllon had lost his ships and men at the 
mouth of the Jordan. Thence the wanderers turned westward; but that 
De Soto and his men crossed the mountains into North Carolina and Ten¬ 
nessee is hardly to be believed. They seem rather to have passed across 
Northern Georgia from the Chattahouche to the upper tributaries of the 
Coosa, and thence down that river to the valleys of Lower Alabama. 
Here, just above the confluence of the Alabama and the Tombecbee, they 
came upon the fortified Indian town called Mauville, or Mobile, where a 
terrible battle was fought with the natives. The town was set on fire, 
and two thousand five hundred of the Indians were killed or burned to 
death. Eighteen of De Soto’s men were killed, and a hundred and fifty 
wounded. The Spaniards also lost about eighty horses and all of their 
baggage. 

12. The ships of supply had meanwhile arrived at Pensacola, but De 
Soto and his men, although in desperate circumstances, were too stubborn 
and proud to avail themselves of help or even to send news of their where¬ 
abouts. They turned resolutely to the north; but the country was poor, 
and their condition grew constantly worse and worse. By the middle of 
December they had reached the country of the Chickasas, in Northern 
Mississippi. They crossed the Yazoo; the weather was severe; snow 
fell; and the Spaniards were on the point of starvation. They succeeded, 
however, in finding some fields of ungathered maize, and then came upon 
a deserted Indian village which promised them shelter for the winter. 
After remaining here till February, 1541, they were suddenly attacked in 
the dead of night by the Indians, who, at a preconcerted signal, set the 
town on fire, determined then and there to make an end of the desolating 
foreigners; but the Spanish weapons and discipline again saved De Soto 
and his men from destruction. 

13. After gathering provisions and reclothing themselves as well as pos¬ 
sible, the Spaniards set out again in early spring to journey still farther 
westward. The guides now brought them to the Mississippi. The point 


24 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


where the majestic Father of Waters was first seen by white men was at 
the lower Chickasaw Bluff, a little north of the thirty 7 -fourth parallel of 
latitude; the day of the discovery cannot certainly be known. The In¬ 
dians came down the river in a fleet of canoes, and offered to carry the 
Spaniards over; but the horses could not be transported until barges were 
built for that purpose. The crossing was not effected until the latter part 
of May. 

14. De Soto’s men now found themselves in the land of the Dakotas. 
Journeying to the north-west, they passed through a country where wild 
fruits were plentiful and subsistence easy. The natives were inoffensive 
and superstitious. At one place they were going to worship the woe¬ 
begone cavaliers as the children of the gods, but De Soto was too good a 
Catholic to permit such idolatry. The Spaniards continued their march 
until they reached the St. Francis River, which they crossed, and gained 
the southern limits of Missouri, in the vicinity of New Madrid. Thence 
westward the march was renewed for about two hundred miles; thence 
southward to the Hot Springs and the tributaries of the Washita River. 
On the banks of this river, at the town of Atiamque, they passed the win¬ 
ter of 1541-42. The Indians were found to be much more civilized than 
those east of the Mississippi; but their civilization did not protect them 
in the least from the horrid cruelties which the Spaniards practiced. No 
consideration of justice, humanity or mercy moved the stony hearts of 
these polite and Christian warriors. Indian towns were set on fire for 
sport; Indian hands were chopped off for a whim; and Indian captives 
burned alive because, under fear of death, they had told a falsehood. 

15. But De Soto’s men were themselves growing desperate in their mis¬ 
fortunes. They turned again toward the sea, and passing down the 
tributaries of the Washita to the junction of that stream with the Red 
River, came upon the Mississippi in the neighborhood of Natchez. The 
spirit of De Soto was at last completely broken. The haughty cavalier 
bowed his head and became a prey to melancholy. No more dazzling 
visions of Peru and Mexico flitted before his imagination. A malignant 
fever seized upon his emaciated frame, and then death. The priests 
chanted a requiem, and in the middle of the solemn night his sorrowful 
companions put the dead hero’s body into a rustic coffin, and rowing out 
a distance from shore sunk it in the Mississippi. Ferdinand de Soto had 
found a grave under the rolling waters of the great river with which his 
name will be associated for ever. 

16. Before his death, De Soto had named Moscoso as his successor; and 
now, under the leadership of the new governor, the ragged, half-starved 
adventurers, in the vain hope of reaching Mexico, turned once more to the 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


25 


west. They crossed the country to the upper waters of the Red River, on 
the coniines of TeXas. Thence they turned northward into the territory 
of the Pawnees and the Comanclies, ranging the hunting-grounds of 
those fierce savages until stopped by the mountains. In December of 
1542, after .almost endless wanderings and hardships, they came again 
to the Mississippi, reaching the now familiar stream a short distance above 
the mouth of Red River. They now formed the desperate resolution of 
building boats, and thus descending the river to the gulf. They erected 
a forge, broke off the fetters of the captives in order to procure iron, sawed 
timber in the forest, and at last completed seven brigantines and launched 
them. The time thus occupied extended from January to July of 1543. 
The Indians of the neighborhood were now for the last time plundered 
in order to furnish supplies for the voyage; and on the 2d day of July 
the Spaniards went on board their boats and started for the sea. The dis¬ 
tance was almost five hundred miles, and seventeen days were required to 
make the descent. On reaching the Gulf of Mexico, they steered to the 
south-west; and keeping as close to the shore as possible, after fifty-five 
days of buffetings and perils along the dangerous coast, they came—three 
hundred and eleven famished and heart-broken fugitives—to the settle¬ 
ment at the mouth of the River of Palms; and thus ended the most 
marvelous expedition in the early history of our country. 

17. The next attempt by the Spaniards to colonize Florida was in the 
year 1565. The enterprise was entrusted to Pedro Melendez, a Span¬ 
ish soldier of ferocious disposition and criminal practices. He was under 
sentence to pay a heavy fine at the very time when he received his com¬ 
mission from the bigoted Philip II. The contract between that monarch 
and Melendez was to the effect that the latter should within three years 
explore the coast of Florida, conquer the country, and plant in some 
favorable district a colony of not less than five hundred persons, of whom 
one hundred should be married men. Melendez was to receive two hun¬ 
dred and twenty-five square miles of land adjacent to the settlement, and 
an annual salary of two thousand dollars. Twenty-five hundred persons 
collected around Melendez to join in the expedition. The fleet left Spain 
in July, reached Porto Rico early in August, and on the 28th of the same 
month came in sight of Florida. 

18. It must now be understood that the real object had in view by 
Melendez was to attack and destroy a colony of French Protestants called 
Huguenots, who, in the previous year, had made a settlement about thirty- 
five miles above the mouth of the’ St. John’s River. This was, of course, 
within the limits of the territory claimed by Spain ; and Melendez at once 
perceived that to extirpate these French heretics in the name of patriotism 


26 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


and religion would be likely to restore his shattered character and bring 
him into favor again. His former crimes were to be washed out in the 
blood of the innocents. Moreover, the Catholic party at the French 
court had communicated with the Spanish court as to the whereabouts and 
intentions of the Huguenots, so that Melendez knew precisely where to 
find them and how to compass their destruction. 

19. It was St. Augustine’s day when the dastardly Spaniard came in 
sight of the shore, but the landing was not effected until the 2d of Sep¬ 
tember. The spacious harbor and the small river which enters it from 
the south were named in honor of the saint. On the 8th day of the 
same month, Philip II. was proclaimed monarch of all North America; 
a solemn mass was said by the priests; and there, in the sight of forest, and 
sky, and sea, the foundation-stones of the oldest town in the United States 
were put into their place. This was seventeen years before the founding 
of Santa Fe by Antonio de Espego, and forty-two years before the 
settlement at Jamestown. 

20. As soon as the new town was sufficiently advanced to be secure 
against accident, Melendez turned his attention to the Huguenots. The 
latter were expecting to be attacked, but had supposed that the Spanish 
fleet would sail up the St. John’s, and make the onset from that direction. 
Accordingly, knowing that they must fight or die, all the French vessels 
except two left their covert in the river and put to sea, intending to an¬ 
ticipate the movements of the Spaniards; but a furious storm arose and 
dashed to pieces every ship in the fleet. Most of the crews, however, 
reached the shore just above the mouth of the river. Melendez now 
collected his forces at St. Augustine, stole through the woods and swamps, 
and falling unexpectedly on the defenceless colony, utterly destroyed 
it. Men, women and children were alike given up to butchery. Two 
hundred were killed outright. A few escaped into the forest, Laudonniere, 
the Huguenot leader, among the number, and making their way to the 
coast, were picked up by the two French ships which had been saved 
from the storm. 

21. The crews of the wrecked vessels were the next object of Spanish 
vengeance. Melendez discovered their whereabouts, and deceiving them 
with treacherous promises of clemency, induced them to surrender. They 
were ferried across the river in boats; but no sooner were they completely 
in the power of their enemy than their hands were bound behind them, 
and they were driven off, tied two and two, toward St. Augustine. As 
they approached the Spanish fort the signal was given by sounding a 
trumpet, and the work of slaughter began anew. Seven hundred defence¬ 
less victims were added to the previous atrocious massacre. Only a few 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


27 


mechanics and Catholic servants were left alive. Under these bloody 
auspices the first permanent European colony was planted in our country. 
In what way the Huguenots were revenged upon their enemies will be 
told in another place. 

22. The Spaniards had now explored the entire coast from the Isthmus 
of Darien to Port Royal in South Carolina. They were acquainted with 
the country west of the Mississippi as far north as New Mexico and 
Missouri, and east of that river they had traversed the Gulf States as far 
as the mountain ranges of Tennessee and North Carolina. With the es¬ 
tablishment of their first permanent colony on the coast of Florida the 
period of Spanish voyage and discovery may be said to end. 

23. Before closing this chapter, a brief account of the only important 
voyage made by the Portuguese to America will be given: At the time 
of the first discover}" by Columbus, the unambitious John II. was king 
of Portugal. He paid but little attention to the New World, prefer¬ 
ring the security and dullness of his own capital to the splendid allure¬ 
ments of the Atlantic. In 1495 he was succeeded on the throne by his 
cousin Manuel, a man of very different character. This monarch could 
hardly forgive his predecessor for having allowed Spain to snatch from the 
flag of Portugal the glory of Columbus’s achievements. In order to secure 
some of the benefits which yet remained, King Manuel fitted out two ves¬ 
sels, and in the summer of 1501 commissioned Gaspar Cortereal to 
sail on a voyage of discovery. The Portuguese vessels reached America in 
the month of July, and beginning at some point on the shores of Maine, 
sailed northward, exploring the coast for nearly seven hundred miles. Just 
below the fiftieth parallel of latitude Cortereal met the icebergs, and could 
go no farther. Little attention was paid by him to the great forests of 
pine and hemlock which stood tall and silent along the shore, promising 
ship-yards and cities in after times. He satisfied his rapacity by kid¬ 
napping fifty Indians, whom, on his return to Portugal, he sold as slaves. 
A new voyage was then undertaken, with the avowed purpose of capturing 
another cargo of natives for the slave-mart of Europe; but when a year 
went by, and no tidings arrived from the fleet, the brother of the Portuguese 
captain sailed in hope of finding the missing vessels. He also was lost, 
but in what manner has never been ascertained. The fate of the Corte- 
reals and their slave-ships has remained one of the unsolved mysteries 
of the sea. 


28 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER IV. 


THE FRENCH IN AMERICA. 


RANCE was not slow to profit by the discoveries of Columbus. As 



J- early as 1504 the fishermen of Normandy and Brittany began to ply 
their vocation on the banks of Newfoundland. A map of the Gulf of 
St. Lawrence was drawn by a Frenchman in the year 1506. Two years 
later some Indians were taken to France; and in 1518 the attention of 
Francis I. was turned to the colonization of the New World. Five years 
afterward a voyage of discovery and exploration was planned, and John 
Verrazzani, a native of Florence, was commissioned to conduct the 
expedition. The special object had in view was to discover a north-west 
passage to Asia. 

2. In the month of January, 1524, Verrazzani left the shores of Europe. 
His fleet consisted at first of four vessels; but three of them were damaged 
in a storm, and the voyage was undertaken with a single ship, called the 
Dolphin. For fifty days, through the buffetings of tempestuous weather, 
the courageous mariner held on his course, and on the 7th day of March 
discovered the main land in the latitude of Wilmington. He first sailed 
southward a hundred and fifty miles in the hope of finding a harbor, 
but found none. Returning northward, he finally anchored somewhere 
along the low sandy beach which stretches between the mouth of Cape 
Fear River and Pamlico Sound. Here he began a traffic with the natives. 
The Indians of this neighborhood were found to be a gentle and timid 
sort of creatures, unsuspicious and confiding. A half-drowned sailor who 
was washed ashore by the surf was treated with great kindness, and as soon 
as opportunity offered, permitted to return to the ship. 

3. After a few days the voyage was continued toward the north. The 
whole coast of New Jersey was explored, and the hills marked as con¬ 
taining minerals. The harbor of New York was entered, and its safe 
and spacious waters were noted with admiration. At Newport, Rhode 
Island, Verrazzani anchored for fifteen days, and a trade was again opened 
with the Indians. Before leaving the place the French sailors repaid the 
confidence of the natives by kidnapping a child and attempting to steal 
a defenceless Indian girl. 

4. Sailing from Newport, Verrazzani continued his explorations north- 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


29 


ward. The long and broken line of the New England coast was traced 
with considerable care. The Indian^ of the north were wary and sus¬ 
picious. They would buy neither ornaments nor toys, but were eager to 
purchase knives and weapons of iron. Passing to the east of Nova 
Scotia, the bold navigator reached Newfoundland in the latter part of 
May. In July he returned to France and published an account, still ex¬ 
tant, of his great discoveries. The name of New France was now given 
to the whole country whose sea-coast had been traced by the adventurous 
crew of the Dolphin. 

5. Such was the distracted condition of France at this time, that 
another expedition was not planned for a period of ten years. In 1534, 
however, Chabot, admiral of the kingdom, selected James Cartier, a 
seaman of St. Malo, in Brittany, to make a new voyage to America. 
Two ships were fitted out for the enterprise, and after no more than 
twenty days of sailing under cloudless skies anchored on the 10th day of 
May off the coast of Newfoundland. Before the middle of July, Cartier 
had circumnavigated the island to the northward, crossed the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence to the south of Anticosti, and entered the Bay of Chaleurs. 
Not finding, as he had hoped, a passage out of this bay westward, he 
changed his course to the north again, and ascended the coast as far as 
Gaspe Bay. Here, upon a point of land, he set up a cross bearing a 
shield with the lily of France, and proclaimed the French king monarch 
of the country. Pressing his way still farther northward, and then west¬ 
ward, he entered the St. Lawrence, and ascended the broad estuary until 
the narrowing banks made him aware that he was in the mouth of a river. 
Cartier, thinking it impracticable to pass the winter in the New World, 
now turned his prows toward France, and in thirty days anchored his ships 
in the harbor of St. Malo. 

6. So great was the fame of Cartier’s first voyage that another was 
planned immediately. Three good ships were provided, and quite a num¬ 
ber of young noblemen joined the expedition. Colonization rather than 
discovery was now the inspiring motive. The sails were set by zealous 
and excited crews, and on the 19th of May the new voyage was begun. 
This time there was stormy weather, yet the passage to Newfoundland 
was made by the 10th of August. It was the day of St. Lawrence, and 
the name of that martyr was accordingly given to the gulf, and after¬ 
ward to the noble stream which enters it from the west. Sailing north¬ 
ward around Anticosti, the expedition proceeded up the river to the island 
of Orleans, where the ships were moored in a place of safety. Two In¬ 
dians whom Cartier had taken with him to France in the previous year 
now gave information that higher up the river there was an important 


30 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


town on the island of Hochelaga. Proceeding thither in his boats, the 
French captain found it as the Indians had said. A beautiful village lay 
there at the foot of a high hill in the middle of the island. Climbing to 
the top of the hill, Cartier, as suggested by the scene around him, named 
the island and town Mont-Real. The country was declared to belong by 
right of discovery to the king of France; and then the boats dropped 
* down the river to the ships. During this winter twenty-five of Cartier’s 
men were swept off by the scurvy, a malady hitherto unknown in Europe. 

7. With the opening of spring, preparations were made to return to 
France. The terrible winter had proved too much for French enthusiasm. 
The emblem of Catholicism, bearing the arms of France, was again planted 
in the soil of the New World, and the homeward voyage began ; but be¬ 
fore the ships had left their anchorage, the kindly king of the Hurons, 
who had treated Cartier with so much generosity, was decoyed on board 
and carried off to die. On the 6th day of July the fleet reached St. 
Malo in safety; but by the accounts which Cartier published on his return 
the French were greatly discouraged. Neither silver nor gold had been 
found on the banks of the St. Lawrence; and what was a new world good 
for that had not silver and gold ? 

8. Francis of La Roque, lord of Roberval, in Picardy, was the next 
to undertake the colonization of the countries discovered by the French. 
This nobleman, four years after Cartier’s return from his second voyage, 
was commissioned by the court of France to plant a colony on the St. 
Lawrence. The titles of viceroy and lieutenant-general of New France 
were conferred upon him, and much other vainglorious ceremony attended 
his preparations for departure. The man, however, who was chiefly 
relied on to give character and direction to the proposed colony was no 
other than James Cartier. He only seemed competent to conduct the 
enterprise with any promise of success. His name was accordingly added 
to the list, and he was honored with the office of chief pilot and captain- 
general of the expedition. 

9. The next thing to be done was to find material for the colony. This 
was a difficult task. The French peasants and mechanics were not eager 
to embark for a country which promised nothing better than savages and 
snow. Cartier’s honest narrative about the resources of New France had 
left no room for further dreaming. So the work of enlisting volunteers 
went on slowly, until the government adopted the plan of opening the 
prisons of the kingdom and giving freedom to whoever would join the 
expedition. There was a rush of robber’s, swindlers and murderers, and 
the lists were immediately filled. Only counterfeiters and traitors were 
denied the privilege of gaining their liberty in the New Wvrld. 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


31 


10. In the latter part of May, 1541, five ships, under the immediate 
command of Cartier, left France, and soon reached the St. Lawrence. 
The expedition proceeded up the river to the present site of Quebec, 
where a fort was erected and named Charlesbourg. Here the colonists 
passed the winter. Cartier, offended because of the subordinate position 
which he held, was sullen and gloomy, and made no effort to prosecute 
discoveries which could benefit no one but the ambitious Roberval. The 
two leaders never acted in concert; and when La Roque, in June of the 
following year, arrived with immigrants and supplies, Cartier secretly 
sailed away with his part of the squadron, and returned to Europe. 
Roberval was left in New France with three shiploads of criminals who 
could only be restrained by whipping and hanging. During the autumn 
some feeble efforts were made to discover a northern passage; the winter 
was long and severe, and spring was welcomed by the colonists chiefly 
for the opportunity which it gave them of returning to France. The 
enterprise undertaken with so much pomp had resulted in nothing. In 
the year 1549 Roberval, with a large company of emigrants, sailed on a 
second voyage, but the fleet was never heard of afterward. 

11. A period of fifty years now elapsed before the French authorities 
again attempted to colonize America. Meanwhile, private enterprise 
and religious persecution had co-operated in an effort to accomplish in 
Florida and Carolina what the government had failed to accomplish on 
the St. Lawrence. About the middle of the sixteenth century Coligni, 
the Protestant admiral of France, formed the design of establishing in 
America a refuge for the persecuted Huguenots of his own country. In 
1562 this liberal and influential minister obtained from the sovereign, 
Charles IX., the coveted privilege of planting a colony of Protestants 
in the New World. John Ribault of Dieppe, a brave and experienced 
sailor, was selected to lead the Huguenots to the land of promise. Sail¬ 
ing in February, the company reached the coast of Florida at a point 
where three years later St. Augustine was founded. The River St. John's, 
called by the Spaniards the St. Matthew, was entered by the French and 
named the River of May. The vessels then continued northward along 
the coast until they came to the entrance of Port Royal; here it was 
determined to make the settlement. The colonists were landed on an 
island, and a stone engraved with the arms of their native land was set 
up to mark the place. A fort was erected, and in honor of Charles IX. 
named Carolina—a name which a century afterward was retained by the 
English and applied to the whole country from the Savannah River to 
the southern boundary of Virginia. In this fort Ribault left twenty-six 
men to keep possession, and then sailed back to France for additional 

3 


32 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


emigrants and stores. But civil war was now raging in the kingdom, 
and it was quite impossible to procure either supplies or colonists. No 
reinforcements were sent to Carolina, and in the following spring the men 
in the fort, discouraged with long waiting, grew mutinous, and killed 
their leader for attempting to control them. Then they constructed a 
rude brig and put to sea. After they had been driven about by the 
winds for a long time, they were picked up half starved by an English 
ship and carried to the coast of France. 

12. Coligni did nott yet despair of success in what he had undertaken. 
Two years after the first attempt another colony was planned, and Lau- 
donniere chosen leader. The character, however, of this second Prot¬ 
estant company was very bad. Many of them were abandoned men, of 
little industry and no prudence. The harbor of Port Royal was now 
shunned by the Huguenots, and a point on the River St. John’s about 
fifteen miles west of where St. Augustine now stands was selected for the 
settlement. A fort was built here, and things were going well until a part 
of the colonists, under the pretext of escaping from famine, contrived to get 
away with two of the ships. Instead of returning to France, as they had 
promised, they began to practice piracy in the adjacent seas, until they were 
caught, brought back and justly hanged. The rest of the settlers, im¬ 
provident and dissatisfied, were on the eve of breaking up the colony, 
when Ribault arrived with supplies of every sort, and restored order and 
content. It was at this time that the Spaniard Melendez, as already 
narrated, discovered the whereabouts of the Huguenots, and murdered the 
entire company. 

13. It remained for Dominic de Gourges, a soldier of Gascony, to 
visit the Spaniards of St. Augustine with signal vengeance. This man 
fitted out three ships, mostly with his own means, and with only fifty 
daring seamen on board arrived in mid-winter on the coast of Florida. 
With this handful of soldiers he surprised successively three Spanish 
forts on the St. John’s, and made prisoners of the inmates. Then, when 
he was unable to hold his position any longer, he hanged his leading 
captives to the branches of the trees, and put up this inscription to explain 
what he had done: “ Not Spaniards, but murderers.” 

14. In the year 1598 the attention of the government of France was 
once more directed to the claims which French discovery had established 
in America. The Marquis of La Roche, a nobleman of influence and 
distinction, now obtained a commission authorizing him to found an empire 
in the New World. The prisons of France were again opened to furnish 
the emigrants, and the colony was soon made up. Crossing the Atlantic 
by the usual route, the vessels reached the coast of Nova Scotia, and 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


33 


anchored at Sable Island. A more dismal place could not have been 
found between Labrador and Mexico; yet here, on this desolate island, La 
Roche left forty men to form a settlement, while he himself, under the pre¬ 
text of procuring more men and supplies, returned to France. Shortly 
after his arrival in that country he died; and for seven dreary years the 
new French empire, composed of forty criminals, languished on Sable 
Island. Then they were mercifully picked up by some passing ships and 
carried back to France. Their punishment had been enough, and they 
were never remanded to prison. 

15. But the time had now come when a colony of Frenchmen should 
actually be established in America. In the year 1603 the sovereignty of 
the country from the latitude of Philadelphia to one degree north of 
Montreal was granted to De Monts. The items of chief importance in 
the patent which he received from the king were a monopoly of the fur- 
trade of the new country and religious freedom for Huguenot immigrants. 
De Monts, with two shiploads of colonists, left France early in March of 
1604, and after a pleasant voyage reached the Bay of Fundy. The sum¬ 
mer was spent in making explorations and in trafficking with the natives. 
De Monts seems to have been uncertain as to where he should plant his 
colony; but while in this frame of mind, Poutrincourt, the captain of one of 
the ships, being greatly pleased with a harbor which he had discovered on 
the north-west coast of Nova Scotia, asked and obtained a grant of the same, 
together with some beautiful lands adjacent, and he and a part of the crew 
went on shore. De Monts, with the rest of the colony, crossed to the west 
side of the bay, and began to build a fort on an island at the mouth of 
the St. Croix River. But in the following spring they abandoned this 
place, and returned to the harbor which had been granted to Poutrin¬ 
court. Here, on the 14th day of November, 1605, the foundations of the 
first permanent French settlement in America were laid. The name of 
Port Royal was given to the harbor and the fort, and the whole country, 
including Nova Scotia, the surrounding islands and the main land as far 
south as the St. Croix River, was called Acadia. 

16. Two years before the settlement was made at Port Royal, Samuel 
Champlain, one of the most eminent and soldierly men of his times, was 
commissioned by a company of Rouen merchants to explore the country of 
the St. Lawrence and establish a trading-post. The traders saw that a traffic 
in the furs which those regions so abundantly supplied was a surer road 
to riches than rambling about in search of gold and diamonds. Under 
this commission, Champlain crossed the ocean, entered the gulf, sailed up 
the river, and with remarkable prudence and good judgment selected 
the spot on which Quebec now stands as the site for a fort. In the 


34 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


autumn of 1603, lie returned to France, and published an interesting and 
faithful account of his expedition. 

17. In the year 1608, Champlain again visited America, and on the 
3d of July in that year the foundations of Quebec were laid. In the 
following year he and two other Frenchmen joined a company of Huron 
and Algonquin Indians who were at war with the Iroquois of New York, 
While marching with this party of warriors, he ascended the Sorel River 
until he came to the long, narrow lake which he was the first white man 
to look upon, and which has ever since borne the name of its discoverer. 

18. Champlain was a religious enthusiast, and on that account the 
development of his colony was for some time hindered. In 1612 the 
Protestant party came into power in France, and the great Conde, the 
protector of the Protestants, became viceroy of the French empire in 
America. Now, for the third time, Champlain came to New France, 
and the success of the colony at Quebec was fully assured. Franciscan 
monks came over and began to preach among the Indians. These 
friars and the Protestants quarreled a good deal, and the settlement 
was much disturbed. A second time Champlain went with a war- 
party against the Iroquois. His company was defeated, he himself 
wounded and obliged to remain all winter among the Hurons; but 
in the summer of 1617 he returned to the colony, in 1620 began to 
build, and four years afterward completed, the strong fortress of St. 
Louis. When the heavy bastions of this castle appeared on the high 
cliff above the town and river, the permanence of the French settle¬ 
ments in the valley of the St. Lawrence was no longer doubtful. To 
Samuel Champlain, more than to any other man—more than to the 
French government itself—the success of the North American colo¬ 
nies of France must be attributed. 


CHAPTER Y 


ENGLISH DISCOVERIES AND SETTLEMENTS. 



O day in the early history of the New World was more important 


than the 5th of May, 1496. On that day Henry VII., king of 
England, signed the commission of John Cabot of Venice to make dis¬ 
coveries and explorations in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, to carry the 
English flag, and to take possession of all islands and continents which he 
might discover. Cabot was a brave, adventurous man who had been a 















































































* 


' 



































100 


90 


80 


70 


60 


50 



3 


7 


27 






































































































57 


77 


87 


97 






























































































VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


35 


sailor from liis boyhood, and was now a wealthy merchant of Bristol. 
The autumn and winter were spent in preparations for the voyage; 
five substantial ships were fitted, crews were enlisted, and everything 
made ready for the opening of the spring. In April the fleet left Bris¬ 
tol; and on the morning of the 24th of June, at a point about the 
middle of the eastern coast of Labrador, the gloomy shore was seen. 
This was the real discovery of the American continent. Fourteen 
months elapsed before Columbus reached the coast of Guiana, and more 
than two years before Ojeda and Vespucci came in sight of the main 
land of South America. 

2. Cabot explored the shore-line of the country which he had dis¬ 
covered for several hundred miles. He supposed that the land was a 
part of the dominions of the Cham of Tartary; but finding no inhabitants, 
he went on shore, according to the terms of his commission, planted the 
flag of England, and took possession in the name of the English king. 
No man forgets his native land; by the side of the flag of his adopted 
country Cabot set up the banner of the republic of Venice—auspicious 
emblem of another flag which should one day float from sea to sea. 

3. As soon as he had satisfied himself of the extent and character of 
the country which he had discovered, Cabot sailed for England. On the 
homeward voyage he twice saw on the right hand the coast of Newfound¬ 
land, but did not stop for further discovery. After an absence of but 
little more than three months, he reached Bristol, and was greeted with 
great enthusiasm. The town had holiday, the people were wild about 
the discoveries of their favorite admiral, and the whole kingdom took up 
the note of rejoicing. The Crown gave him money and encouragement, 
new crews were enlisted, new ships fitted out, and a new commission 
more liberal in its provisions than the first was signed in February of 1498. 
Strange as it may seem, after the date of this second patent the very 
name of John Cabot disappears from the annals of the times. Where 
the remainder of his life was passed and the circumstances of his death 
are involved in complete mystery. 

4. But Sebastian, second son of John Cabot, inherited his father’s 
plans and reputation, and to his father’s genius added a greater genius 
of his own. He had already been to the New World on that first famous 
voyage, and now, when the opportunity offered to conduct a voyage of 
his own, he threw himself into the enterprise with all the fervor of youth. 
It is probable that the very fleet which had been equipped for his father 
was entrusted to Sebastian. At any rate, the latter found himself, in the 
spring of 1498, in command of a squadron of well-manned vessels and 
on his way to the new continent. The particular object had in view was 


36 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


that common folly of the times, the discovery of a north-west passage to 
the Indies. 

5. The voyage continued prosperously until, in the ocean west of Green ¬ 
land, the icebergs compelled Sebastian to change his course. It was July, 
and the sun scarcely set at midnight. Seals were seen and the ships 
ploughed through such shoals of codfish as had never before been heard of. 
The shore was reached not far from the scene of the elder Cabot’s discov- 
eries, and then the fleet turned southward, but whether across the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence or to the east of Newfoundland is uncertain. New 
Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Maine were next explored. The whole 
coast-line of New England and of the Middle States was now for the 
first time since the days of the Norsemen traced by Europeans. Nor did 
Cabot desist from this work, which was bestowing the title of discovery 
on the crown of England, until he had passed beyond the Chesapeake. 
After all the disputes about the matter, it is most probable that Cape 
Hatteras is the point from which Sebastian began his homeward voyage. 

6. The future career of Cabot was as strange as the voyages of his 
boyhood had been wonderful. The scheming, illiberal Henry VII., 
although quick to appreciate the value of Sebastian’s discoveries, was 
slow to reward the discoverer. The Tudors were all dark-minded and 
selfish princes. When King Henry died, Ferdinand the Catholic enticed 
Cabot away from England and made him pilot-major of Spain. While 
holding this high office he had almost entire control of the maritime 
affaire of the kingdom, and sent out many successful voyages. He lived 
to be very old, but the circumstances of his death have not been ascer¬ 
tained, and his place of burial is unknown. 

7. The year 1498 is the most marked in the whole history of discovery. 
In the month of May, Vasco de Gama of Portugal doubled the Cape 
of Good Hope and succeeded in reaching Hindostan. During the sum¬ 
mer the younger Cabot traced the eastern coast of North America through 
more than twenty degrees of latitude, thus establishing for ever the claim 
of England to the most valuable portion of the New World. In August, 
Columbus himself, now sailing on his third voyage, reached the mouth of 
the Orinoco. Of the three great discoveries, that of Cabot has proved to 
be by far the most important. 

8. But several causes impeded the career of English discovery during 
the greater part of the sixteenth century. The next year after the New 
World was found, the pope, Alexander the Sixth, drew an imaginary line 
north and south three hundred miles west of the Azores, and issued a 
papal bull giving all islands and countries west of that line to Spain. 
Henry VII. of England was himself a Catholic, and he did not care to 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


37 


begin a conflict with his Church by pressing his own claims to the newly- 
found regions of the west. His son and successor, Henry VIII., at first 
adopted the same policy, and it was not until after the Reformation had 
been accomplished in England that the decision of the pope came to be 
disregarded, and finally despised and laughed at. 

9. During the short reign of Edward VI. the spirit of maritime adven^ 
ture was again aroused. In 1548 the king’s council voted a hundred 
pounds sterling to induce the now aged Sebastian Cabot to return from 
Spain and become grand-pilot of England. The old admiral quitted 
Seville and once more sailed under the English flag. In the reign of 
Queen Mary the power of England on the sea was not materially extended, 
but with the accession of Elizabeth a wonderful impulse was given to all 
enterprises which promised the aggrandizement of her kingdom. 

10. The spirit of discovery now reappeared in that bold and skillful 
sailor, Martin Frobisher. Himself poor, Dudley, earl of Warwick, 
came to his aid, and fitted out three small vessels to sail in search of a 
north-west passage to Asia. Three-quarters of a century had not sufficed 
to destroy the fanatical notion of reaching the Indies by sailing around 
America to the north. One of Frobisher’s ships was lost on the voyage, 
another, terrified at the prospect, returned to England, but in the third the 
dauntless captain proceeded to the north and west until he attained a 
higher latitude than had ever before been reached on the American coast. 
Above the sixtieth parallel he discovered the group of islands which 
lies in the mouth of Hudson’s Strait. Still farther to the north he came 
upon a large island which he supposed to. be the mainland of Asia; to 
this he gave the name of Meta Incognita. North of this island, in lati¬ 
tude sixty-three degrees and eight minutes, he entered the strait which 
has ever since borne the name of its discoverer, then sailed for England, 
carrying home with him one of the Esquimaux and a stone which was 
declared by the English refiners to contain gold. 

11. London was greatly excited. Queen Elizabeth herself added a 
vessel to the new fleet which in the month of May, 1577, departed for 
Meta Incognita to gather the precious metal by the shipload. Coming 
among the icebergs, the ships were for weeks together in constant danger 
of being crushed to atoms between the floating mountains. The summer 
was unfavorable. No ships reached as high a point as Frobisher had 
attained by himself on the previous voyage. The mariners were in con¬ 
sternation at the gloomy perils around them, and availed themselves of 
the first opportunity to get out of these dangerous seas and return to 
England. 

12. Were the English gold-hunters satisfied ? Not at all. Fifteen new 


38 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


vessels were immediately fitted out the queen again bearing part of the 
expense, and as soon as the spring of 1578 opened the third voyage was 
begun. This time a colony was to be planted in the gold-regions of the 
north. Three of the ships, loaded with emigrants, were to remain in the 
promised land. The other twelve were to be freighted with gold-ore and 
return to London. When they reached the entrance to Hudson’s Strait, 
they encountered icebergs more terrible than ever. Through a thousand 
perils the vessels finally reached Meta Incognita and took on cargoes of 
dirt. The provision-ship now slipped away from the fleet and returned 
to England. Affairs grew desperate. The. north-west passage was for¬ 
gotten. The colony which was to be planted was no longer thought of. 
Faith in the shining earth which they had stored in the holds gave way, 
and so, with disappointed crews on board and several tons of the spurious 
ore under the hatches, the ships set sail for home. The El Dorado of the 
Esquimaux had proved an utter failure. 

13. The English admiral, Sir Francis Drake, sought fortune in a 
different manner. Without much regard for the law of nations, he began, 
in the year 1572, to prey upon the merchant-ships of Spain, and gained 
thereby enormous wealth. Five years later he sailed around to the Pacific 
coast by the route which Magellan had discovered, and became a terror to 
the Spanish vessels in those waters. When he had thus sufficiently en¬ 
riched himself by a process not very different from piracy, he formed the 
daring project of tracing up the western coast of North America until he 
should enter the north-west passage from the Pacific, and thence sail east¬ 
ward around the continent. With this object in view, he sailed northward 
along the coast as far as Oregon, when his sailors, who had been for seve¬ 
ral years within the tropics, began to shiver with the cold, and the enter¬ 
prise, which could have resulted in nothing but disaster, was given up. 
Returning to the south, Drake passed the winter of 1579-80 in a harbor 
on the coast of Mexico. To all that portion of the western shores of 
America which he had thus explored he gave the name of New Albion; 
but the earlier discovery of the same coast by the Spaniards rendered the 
English claim of but little value. No colony of Englishmen had yet 
been established in the New World. 

14. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was perhaps the first to conceive a rational 
plan of colonization in America. His idea was to form somewhere on the 
shores of the New Continent an agricultural and commercial state. With 
this purpose he sought aid from the queen, and received a liberal patent 
authorizing him to take possession of any six hundred square miles of 
unoccupied territory in America, and to plant thereon a colony of which 
he himself should be proprietor and governor. With this commission. 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


39 


Gilbert, assisted by his illustrious step-brother, Walter Raleigh, pre¬ 
pared a fleet of flve vessels, and in June of 1583 sailed for the west. 
Only two days after their departure the best vessel in the fleet treacher¬ 
ously abandoned the rest and returned to Plymouth. Early in August, 
Gilbert reached Newfoundland, and going ashore, took formal possession 
of the country in the name of his queen. Unfortunately, some of the 
sailors discovered in the side of a hill scales of mica, and a judge of 
metals, whom Gilbert had been foolish enough to bring with him, de¬ 
clared that the glittering mineral was silver ore. The crews became in¬ 
subordinate. Some went to digging the supposed silver and carrying it 
on board the vessels, while others gratified their piratical propensities by 
attacking the Spanish and Portuguese ships that were fishing in the 
neighboring harbors. 

15. Meanwhile, one of Gilbert’s vessels became worthless, and had to be 
abandoned. With the other three he left Newfoundland, and steered 
toward the south. When off the coast of Massachusetts, the largest of 
the remaining ships was wrecked, and a hundred men, with all the spuri¬ 
ous silver ore, went to the bottom. The disaster was so great that Gilbert 
determined to return at once to England. The weather was stormy, and 
the two ships that were now left were utterly unfit for the sea; but the 
voyage was begun in hope. The brave captain remained in the weaker 
vessel, a little frigate called the Squirrel, already shattered and ready to 
sink. At midnight, as the ships, within hailing distance of each other, 
were struggling through a raging sea, the Squirrel was suddenly en¬ 
gulfed ; not a man of the courageous crew was saved. The other ship 
finally reached Falmouth in safety. 

16. But the project of colonization was immediately renewed by Raleigh. 
In the following spring that remarkable man obtained from the queen a 
new patent fully as liberal as the one granted to Gilbert. Raleigh was to 
become lord-proprietor of an extensive tract of country in America ex¬ 
tending from the thirty-third to the fortieth parallel of north latitude. 
This territory was to be peopled and organized into a state. The frozen 
regions of the north were now to be avoided, and the sunny country of 
the Huguenots was to be chosen as the seat of the rising empire. Two 
ships were fitted out, and the command given to Philip Amidas and 
Arthur Barlow. 

17. In the month of July the vessels reached the coast of Carolina. 
The sea that laved the long, low beach was smooth and glassy. The 
woods were full of beauty and song. The natives were generous and 
hospitable. Explorations were made along the shores of Albemarle and 
Pamlico Sounds, and a landing finally effected on Roanoke Island, where 


40 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


the English were entertained by the Indian queen. But neither Amidas 
nor Barlow had the courage or genius necessary to such an enterprise. 
After a stay of less than two months they returned to England to exhaust 
the rhetoric of description in praising the beauties of the new land. In 
allusion to her own life and reign, Elizabeth gave to her delightful 
country in the New World the name of Virginia. 

18. In December of 1584, Sir Walter brought forward a bill in Par¬ 
liament by which his previous patent was confirmed and enlarged. The 
mind of the whole nation was inflamed at the prospects which Raleigh’s 
province now offered to emigrants and adventurers. The plan of coloni¬ 
zation, so far from being abandoned, was undertaken with renewed zeal and 
earnestness. The proprietor fitted out a second expedition, and appointed 
the soldierly Ralph Lane governor of the colony. Sir Richard Gren¬ 
ville commanded the fleet, and a company, not unmixed with the gallant 
young nobility of the kingdom, made up the crew. Sailing from Ply¬ 
mouth, the fleet of seven vessels reached the American coast on the 20th 
of June. At Cape Fear they were in imminent danger of being wrecked; 
but having escaped the peril, they six days afterward reached Roanoke in 
safety. Here Lane was left with a hundred and ten of the emigrants to 
form a settlement. Grenville, after making a few unsatisfactory explora¬ 
tions, returned to England, taking with him a Spanish treasure-ship which 
he had captured. Privateering and colonization went hand in hand. 

19. Meanwhile, some Indians of a village adjacent to Roanoke had 
committed a petty theft, and the English wantonly burned the whole 
town as a measure of revenge. Jealousy and suspicion took the place of 
former friendships. Lane and some of his companions were enticed with 
false stories to go on a gold-hunting expedition into the interior; their 
destruction was planned, and only avoided by a hasty retreat to Roanoke. 
Wingina, the Indian king, and several of his chiefs were now in turn 
allured into the power of the English and inhumanly murdered. Hatred 
and gloom followed this atrocity, then despondency and a sense of danger, 
until the discouragement became so great that when Sir Francis Drake, 
returning with a fleet from his exploits on the Pacific coast, came in sights 
the colonists prevailed on him to carry them back to England. 

20. It was a needless and hasty abandonment, for within a few days a 
shipload of stores arrived from the prudent Raleigh; but finding no colony, 
the vessel could do nothing but return. Two weeks later Sir Richard 
Grenville himself came back to Roanoke with three well-laden ships, and 
made a fruitless search for the colonists. Not to lose possession of the 
country altogether, he left fifteen men upon the island, and set sail for 
home. 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


41 


21. The ardor of the English people was now somewhat cooled. Yet 
they had before them truthful descriptions of the beauty and mag¬ 
nificence of the new country, and another colony, consisting largely of 
families, was easily made up. A charter of municipal government was 
granted by the proprietor, John White was chosen governor, and every 
precaution taken to secure the permanent success of the City of Raleigh, 
soon to be founded in the west. In July the emigrants arrived in Caro- 
lima. Avoiding the dangerous capes of Hatteras and Fear, they came 
safely to Roanoke; but a search for the fifteen men who had been left 
there a year before only revealed the fact that the natives, now grown 
savage, had murdered them. Nevertheless, the northern extremity of 
the ill-omened island was chosen as the site for the city, and on the 23d 
of the month the foundations were laid. 

22. But disaster attended the enterprise. Jealousy between the settlers 
and the Indians grew into hostility, and hostility into war. Then a peace 
was concluded, and Sir Walter gave countenance to an absurd perform¬ 
ance by which Manteo, one of the Indian chiefs, was made a peer of 
England, with the title of Lord of Roanoke. It was a silly and stupid 
piece of business. Notwithstanding the presence of this copper-colored 
nobleman, the colonists were apprehensive and gloomy. They pretended 
to fear starvation, and in the latter part of August almost compelled 
Governor White to return to England for an additional cargo of supplies. 
It was a great mistake. If White had remained, and the settlers had 
given themselves to tilling the soil and building houses, no further help 
would have been needed. The 18th of August was marked as the birth¬ 
day of Virginia Dare, the first-born of English children in the New 
World. When White set sail for England, he left behind him a colony 
of a hundred and eight persons. What their fate was has never been 
ascertained. The story of their going ashore and joining the Indians is 
unlikely in itself, and has no historical evidence to support it. 

23. The Invincible Armada was now bearing down upon the coasts of 
England. All the resources and energies of the kingdom were demanded 
for defence; and although Raleigh managed to send out two supply- 
ships to succor his starving colony, his efforts to reach them were unavail¬ 
ing. The vessels which he sent with stores went cruising after Spanish 
merchantmen, and were themselves run down and captured by a man-of- 
war. Not until the spring of 1590 did the governor finally return to 
search for the unfortunate colonists. The island was a desert, tenantless 
and silent. No soul remained to tell the story of the lost. 

24. In the mean time, Sir Walter, after spending two hundred thou¬ 
sand dollars of his own means in the attempt to found and foster a colony, 


42 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


had given up the enterprise. He assigned his exclusive proprietary rights 
to an association of London merchants, and it was under their auspices 
that White had made the final search for the settlers of Roanoke. From 
the date of this event very little in the way of voyage and discovery was 
accomplished by the English until the year 1602, when maritime enter¬ 
prise again brought the flag of England to the shores of America. Bar- 
tholomew Gosnold was the man to whom belongs the honor of mak¬ 
ing the next explorations of our coast. 

25. The old route from the shores of Europe to America was very cir¬ 
cuitous. Ships from the ports of England, France and Spain sailed first 
southward to the Canary Islands, thence to the West Indies, and thence 
northward to the coast-line of the continent. Abandoning this path as 
unnecessarily long and out of the way, Gosnold, in a single small vessel 
called the Concord, sailed directly across the Atlantic, and in seven weeks 
reached the coast of Maine. The distance thus gained was fully two 
thousand miles. It was Gosnold’s object to found a colony, and for 
that purpose a company of emigrants came with him. Beginning at 
Cape Elizabeth, explorations were made to the southward; Cape Cod 
was reached, and here the captain, with four of his men, went on shore. 
It was the first landing of Englishmen within the limits of New Eng¬ 
land. Cape Malabar was doubled, and then the vessel, leaving Nantucket 
on the right, turned into Buzzard’s Bay. Selecting the most westerly 
island of the Elizabeth group, the colonists went on shore, and there be¬ 
gan the first New England settlement. 

26. It was a short-lived enterprise. A traffic was opened with the 
natives which resulted in loading the Concord with sassafras root, so much 
esteemed for its fragrance and healing virtues. Everything went well for 
a season ; but when the ship was about to depart for England, the settlers 
became alarmed at the prospect before them, and pleaded for permission to 
return with their friends. Gosnold acceded to their demands, and the 
island was abandoned. After a pleasant voyage of five weeks, and in 
less than four months from the time of starting, the Concord reached 
home in safety. 

27. Gosnold and his companions gave glowing accounts of the country 
which they had visited, and it was not long until another English expe¬ 
dition to America was planned. Two vessels, the Speedwell and the 
Discoverer, composed the fleet, with Martin Pring for commander. A 
cargo of merchandise suited to the tastes of the Indians was put into 
the holds; and in April of 1603, a few days after the death of Queen 
Elizabeth, the vessels sailed for America. They came safely to Penobscot 
Bay, and afterward spent some time in exploring the harbors and shores 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


43 


of Maine. Then, turning to the south and coasting Massachusetts, Pring 
reached the sassafras region, and loaded his vessels at Martha’s Vineyard. 
Thence he returned to England, reaching Bristol in October, after an 
absence of six months. 

28. Two years later, George Waymouth, under the patronage of the 
earl of Southampton, made a voyage to America, and passing Cape Cod 
on the left, came to anchorage among the islands of St. George, on the 
coast of Maine. He explored the harbor, and sailed up the river for a 
considerable distance, taking note of the fine forests of fir and of the 
beautiful scenery along the banks. A profitable trade was opened with 
the Indians, some of whom learned to speak English and returned with 
Waymouth to England. The voyage homeward was safely made, the 
vessels reaching Plymouth about the middle of June. This was the last 
of the voyages made by the English preparatory to the actual establish¬ 
ment of a colony in America. The time had at last arrived when, in the 
beautiful country of the Chesapeake, a permanent settlement should be 
effected. 


CHAPTER VI. 

ENGLISH DISCOVERIES AND SETTLEMENTS.—CONTINUED. 

T HE 10th of April, 1606, was full of fate in the destinies of the west¬ 
ern continent. On that day King James I. issued two great patents 
directed to men of his kingdom, authorizing them to possess and colo¬ 
nize all that portion of Xorth America lying between the thirty-fourth 
and forty-fifth parallels of latitude. The immense tract thus embraced 
extended from the mouth of Cape Fear River to Passamaquoddy Bay, 
and westward to the Pacific Ocean. The first patent was granted to an 
association of nobles, gentlemen and merchants residing at London, and 
called the London Company, while the second instrument was issued 
to a similar body which had been organized at Plymouth, in South-west¬ 
ern England, and which bore the name of the Plymouth Company. 
To the former corporation was assigned all the region between the thirty- 
fourth and the thirty-eighth degrees of latitude, and to the latter the tract 
extending from the forty-first to the forty-fifth degree. The narrow belt 
of three degrees lying between the thirty-eighth and forty-first parallels 
was to be equally open to the colonies of either company, but no settle- 



44 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


ment of one party was to be made within less than one hundred miles 
of the nearest settlement of the other. The nature and extent of these 
grants will be fully understood from an examination of the accompany¬ 
ing map. Only the London Company was successful under its charter 
in planting an American colony. 

2. The man who was chiefly instrumental in organizing the London 
Company was Bartholomew Gosnold. His leading associates were Edward 
Wingfield, a rich merchant, Robert Hunt, a clergyman, and John Smith, 
a man of genius. Others who aided the enterprise were Sir John Pop- 
ham, chief-justice of England, Richard Hakluyt, a historian, and Sir 
Ferdinand Gorges, a distinguished nobleman. By the terms of the char¬ 
ter, the affairs of the company were to be administered by a Superior 
Council, residing in England, and an Inferior Council, residing in the 
colony. The members of the former body were to be chosen by the king, 
and to hold office at his pleasure; the members of the lower council were 
also selected by the royal direction, and were subject to removal by the 
same power. All legislative authority was likewise vested in the mon¬ 
arch. In the first organization of the companies not a single principle 
of self-government was admitted. The most foolish clause in the patent 
was that which required the proposed colony or colonies to hold all prop¬ 
erty in common for a period of five years. The wisest provision in the 
instrument was that which allowed the emigrants to retain in the New 
World all the rights and privileges of Englishmen. 

3. In the month of August, 1606, the Plymouth Company sent their 
first ship to America. The voyage, which was one of exploration, 
was but half completed, when the company’s vessel was captured by a 
Spanish man-of-war. In the autumn another ship was sent out, which 
remained on the American coast until the following spring, and then 
returned with glowing accounts of the country. Encouraged by these 
reports, the company, in the summer of 1607, despatched a colony of a 
hundred persons. Arriving at the mouth of the River Kennebec, the 
colonists began a settlement under favorable circumstances. Some forti¬ 
fications were thrown up, a storehouse and several cabins built, and the 
place named St. George. Then the ships returned to England, leaving 
a promising colony of forty-five members; but the winter of 1607-8 
was very severe; some of the settlers were starved and some frozen, the 
storehouse burned, and when summer came the remnant escaped to 
England. 

4. The London Company had better fortune. A fleet of three vessels 
was fitted out, and the command given to Christopher Newport. On the 
9th of December the ships, having on board a hundred and five colonists, 





































































. 















































































VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY 


4f> 

among whom were Wingfield and Smith, left England. Newport, to 
begin with, committed the astonishing folly of taking the old route by 
way of the Canaries and the West Indies, and did not reach the American 
coast until the month of April. It was the design that a landing should 
be made in the neighborhood of Roanoke Island, but a storm prevailed 
and carried the ships northward into the Chesapeake. Entering the 
magnificent bay and coasting along the southern shore, the vessels came 
to the mouth of a broad and beautiful river, which was named in honor 
of King James. Proceeding up this stream about fifty miles, Newport 
noticed on the northern bank a peninsula more attractive than the rest 
for its verdure and beauty; the ships were moored, and the emigrants 
went on shore. Here, on the 13th day of May (Old Style), in the year 
1607, were laid the foundations of Jamestown, the oldest English settle¬ 
ment in America. It was within a month of a hundred and ten years 
after the discovery of the continent by the elder Cabot, and nearly forty- 
two years after the founding of St. Augustine. So long a time had been 
required to plant the first feeble germ of English civilization in the New 
World. 

5. After the unsuccessful attempt to form a settlement at the mouth 
of the Kennebec, very little was done by the Plymouth Company for 
several years; yet the purpose of planting colonies was not relinquished. 
Meanwhile, a new impetus was given to the affairs of North Virginia by 
the ceaseless activity and exhaustless energies of John Smith. Wounded 
by an accident, and discouraged, as far as it was possible for such a man 
to be discouraged, by the distractions and turbulence of the Jamestown 
colony, Smith left that settlement in 1609, and returned to England. On 
recovering his health he formed a partnership with four wealthy mer¬ 
chants of London, with a view to the fur-trade and probable establish¬ 
ment of colonies within the limits of the Plymouth grant. Two ships 
were accordingly freighted with goods and put under Smith’s command. 
The summer of 1614 was spent on the coast of lower Maine, where a 
profitable traffic was carried on with the Indians. The crews of the ves¬ 
sels were well satisfied through the long days of July with the plea^ 
sures and profits of the teeming fisheries, but Smith himself found nobler 
work. Beginning as far north as practicable, he patiently explored the 
country, and drew a map of the whole coast-line from the Penobscot 
River to Cape Cod. In this map, which is still extant, and a marvel of 
accuracy considering the circumstances under which it was made, the 
country was called New England —a name which Prince Charles con¬ 
firmed, and which has ever since remained as the designation of the North¬ 
eastern States of the republic. In the month of November the ships re- 


46 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


turned to Plymouth, taking with them many substantial proofs of a suc¬ 
cessful voyage. 

6. Smith now pleaded, more strongly than ever in behalf of coloniza¬ 
tion. Some of his friends in the Plymouth Company gave him aid, and 
in 1615 a small colony of sixteen persons was sent out in a single ship. 
When nearing the American coast, they encountered a terrible storm, and 
after being driven about for two or three weeks were obliged to return to 
England. In spite of these reverses, the undaunted leader renewed the 
enterprise, and again raised a company of emigrants. Part of his crew 
became mutinous, betrayed him, and left him in mid-ocean. His own 
ship was run down and captured by a band of French pirates, and him¬ 
self imprisoned in the harbor of Rochelle. Later in the same year he 
escaped in an open boat and made his way back to London. With as¬ 
tonishing industry, he now published a description of New England, 
and was more zealous than ever in inciting the company of Plymouth to 
energetic action. In these efforts he was much impeded. The London 
Company was jealous of its rival, and put obstacles in the way of every 
enterprise. The whole of the years 1617-18 was spent in making and 
unmaking plans of colonization, until finally, on the petition of some of 
its own leading members, the Plymouth Company was formally super¬ 
seded by a new corporation called the Council of Plymouth, consisting 
of forty of the most wealthy and influential men of the kingdom. On 
this body were conferred, by the terms of the new charter, almost un¬ 
limited powers and privileges. All that part of America lying between 
the fortieth and the forty-eighth parallels of north latitude, and extending 
from ocean to ocean, was given to the council in fee simple. More than a 
million of square miles were embraced in the grant, and absolute jurisdic¬ 
tion over this immense tract was committed to forty men. How King 
James was ever induced to sign such a charter has remained an unsolved 
mystery. 

7. A plan of colonizing was now projected on a grand scale. John 
Smith was appointed admiral of New England for life. The king, not¬ 
withstanding the opposition of the House of Commons, issued a procla¬ 
mation enforcing the provisions of the charter, and everything gave 
promise of the early settlement of America. Such were the schemes of 
men to possess and people the Western Continent. Meanwhile, a Power 
higher tnan the will of man was working in the same direction. The 
time had come when, without the knowledge or consent of James I., 
without the knowledge or consent of the Council of Plymouth, a per¬ 
manent settlement should be made on the bleak shores of New England. 

8. The Puritans ! Name of all names in the early history of the 




VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


47 


West! About the close of the sixteenth century a number of poor dis¬ 
senters scattered through the North of England, especially in the counties 
of Nottingham, Lincoln and York, began to join themselves together for 
the purposes of free religious worship. Politically, they v r ere patriotic 
subjects ol the English king; religiously, they were rebels against the 
authority of the English Church. Their rebellion, however, only ex¬ 
tended to the declaration that every man has a right to discover and ap¬ 
ply the truth as revealed in the Scriptures without the interposition of 
any power other than his own reason and conscience. Such a doctrine w^as 
very repugnant to the Church of England. Queen Elizabeth herself 
declared such teaching to be subversive of the principles on which her 
monarchy was founded. King James was not more tolerant; and from 
time to time violent persecutions broke out against the feeble and dis¬ 
persed Christians of the north. 

9. Despairing of rest in their own country, the Puritans finally deter¬ 
mined to go into exile, and to seek in another land the freedom of v/or- 
ship which their own had denied them. They turned their faces toward 
Holland, made one unsuccessful attempt to get away, were brought back 
and thrown into prisons. Again they gathered together on a bleak heath 
in Lincolnshire, and in the spring of 1608 embarked from the mouth of 
the Humber. Their ship brought them in safety to Amsterdam, wdiere, 
under the care of their heroic pastor, John Robinson, they passed one 
winter, and then removed to Leyden. Such was the beginning of their 
wandering. They took the name of Pilgrims, and grew content to have 
no home or resting-place. Privation and exile could be endured when 
sweetened with liberty. 

10. But the love of native land is a universal passion. The Puritans 
in Holland did not forget—could not forget—that they were Englishmen. 
During their ten years of residence at Leyden they did not cease to long 
for a return to the country which had cast them out. Though ruled by 
a heartless monarch and a bigoted priesthood, England v r as their country 
still. The unfamiliar language of the Dutch grated harshly on their ears. 
They pined with unrest, conscious of their ability and willingness to do 
something which should convince even King James of their patriotism 
and worth. 

11. It was in this condition of mind that about the year 1617 the 
Puritans began to meditate a removal to the wilds of the New World. 
There, with honest purpose and prudent zeal, they would extend the 
dominions of the English king. They would forget the past, and be at 
peace with their country. Accordingly, John Carver and Robert Cush¬ 
man v’ere despatched to England to ask permission for the church of 

4 


48 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Leyden to settle in America. The agents of the London Company 
and the Council of Plymouth gave some encouragement to the request, 
but the king and his ministers, especially Lord Bacon, set their faces 
against any project which might seem to favor heretics. The most that 
King James would do was to make an informal promise to let the Pil¬ 
grims alone in America. Such has always been the despicable attitude 
of bigotry toward every liberal enterprise. 

12. The Puritans were not discouraged. With or without permission, 
protected or not protected by the terms of a charter which might at best 
be violated, they would seek asylum and rest in the Western wilderness. 
Out of their own resources, and with the help of a few faithful friends, 
they provided the scanty means of departure and set their faces toward 
the sea. The Speedwell, a small vessel of sixty tons, was purchased at 
Amsterdam, and the Mayflower, a larger and more substantial ship, was 
hired for the voyage. The former was to carry the emigrants from Ley¬ 
den to Southampton, where they were to be joined by the Mayflower, with 
another company from London. Assembling at the harbor of Delft, on 
the Liver Meuse, fifteen miles south of Leyden, as many of the Pilgrims 
as could be accommodated went on board the Speedwell. The whole con¬ 
gregation accompanied them to the shore. There Lobinson gave them a 
consoling farewell address, and the blessings and prayers of those who 
were left behind followed the vessel out of sight. 

13. Both ships came safely to Southampton, and within two weeks the 
emigrants were ready for the voyage. On the 5th of August, 1620, the 
Vessels left the harbor; but after a few days’ sailing the Speedwell was 
found to be shattered, old and leaky. On this account both ships an¬ 
chored in the port of Dartmouth, and eight days were spent in making 
the needed repairs. Again the sails were set; but scarcely had the land 
receded from sight before the captain of the Speedwell declared his vessel 
unfit to breast the ocean, and then, to the great grief and discouragement 
of the emigrants, put back to Plymouth. Here the bad ship was aban¬ 
doned ; but the Pilgrims were encouraged and feasted by the citizens, and 
the more zealous went on board the Mayflower, ready and anxious for a 
final effort. On the 6th day of September the first colony of New Eng¬ 
land, numbering one hundred and two souls, saw the shores of Old 
England grow dim and sink behind the sea. 

14. The voyage was long and perilous. For sixty-three days the ship 
was buffeted by storms and driven. It had been the intention of the 
Pilgrims to found their colony in the beautiful country of the Hudson • 
but the tempest carried them out of their course, and the first land seen 
was the desolate Cape Cod. On the 9th of November the vessel was- 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


49 


anchored in the bay; then a meeting was held on board and the colony 
organized under a solemn compact. In the charter which they there 
made for themselves the emigrants declared their loyalty to the English 
Crown, and covenanted together to live in peace and harmony, with equal 
rights to all, obedient to just laws made for the common good. Such was 
the simple but sublime constitution of the oldest New England State. A 
nobler document is not to be found among the records of the world. To 
this instrument all the heads of families, forty-one in number, solemnly 
set their names. An election was held in which all had an equal voice, 
and John Carver was unanimously chosen governor of the colony. 

15. After two days the boat was lowered, but was found to be half 
rotten and useless. More than a fortnight of precious time was required 
to make the needed repairs. Standish, Bradford and a few other hardy 
spirits got to shore and explored the country; nothing was found but a 
heap of Indian corn under the snow. By the 6th of December the boat 
was ready for service, and the governor, with fifteen companions, went 
ashore. The weather was dreadful. Alternate rains and snow-storms 
converted the clothes of the Pilgrims into coats-of-mail. All day they 
wandered about, and then returned to the sea-shore. In the morning 
they were attacked by the Indians, but escaped to the ship with their - 
lives, cheerful and giving thanks. Then the vessel was steered to the 
south and west for forty-five miles around the coast of what is now the 
county of Barnstable. At nightfall of Saturday a storm came on; the 
rudder was wrenched away, and the poor ship driven, half by accident 
and half by the skill of the pilot, into a safe haven on the west side 
of the bay. The next day, being the Sabbath, was spent in religious 
devotions, and on Monday, the 11th of December, Old Style, 1620, the 
Pilgrim Fathers landed on the Rock of Plymouth. 

16. It was now the dead of winter. There was an incessant storm of 
sleet and snow, and the houseless immigrants, already enfeebled by their 
sufferings, fell a-dying of hunger, cold and exposure. After a few days 
spent in explorations about the coast, a site was selected near the first 
landing, some trees were felled, the snow-drifts cleared away, and on the 
9th of January the heroic toilers began to build New Plymouth. Every 
man took on himself the work of making his own house; but the rav¬ 
ages of disease grew daily worse, strong arms fell powerless, lung-fevers 
and consumptions wasted every family. At one time only seven men 
were able to work on the sheds which were building for shelter from the 
storms; and if an early spring had not brought relief, the colony must 
have perished to a man. Such were the privations and griefs of that 
terrible winter when New England began to be. 


50 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER VII. 


VOYAGES AND SETTLEMENTS OF THE DUTCH. 


HE first Dutch settlement in America was made on Manhattan or 



-L New York Island. The colony resulted from the voyages and 
explorations of the illustrious Sir Henry Hudson. In the year 1607 
this great British seaman was employed by a company of London mer¬ 
chants to sail into the North Atlantic and discover a route eastward or 
westward to the Indies. He made the voyage in a single ship, passed up 
the eastern coast of Greenland to a higher point of latitude than ever 
before attained, turned eastward to Spitsbergen, circumnavigated that 
island, and then was compelled by the icebergs to return to England. In 
the next year he renewed his efforts, hoping to find between Spitsbergen 
and Nova Zembla an open way to the East. By this course he confi¬ 
dently expected to shorten the route to China by at least eight thousand 
miles. Again the voyage resulted in failure; his employers gave up the 
enterprise in despair, but his own spirits only rose to a higher determi¬ 
nation. When the cautious merchants would furnish no more means, lie 
quitted England and went to Amsterdam. Holland was at this time the 
foremost maritime nation of the world, and the eminent navigator did not 
long go begging for patronage in the busy marts of that country. The 
Dutch East India Company at once furnished him with a ship, a small 
yacht called the Half Moon, and in April of 1609 he set out on his 
third voyage to reach the Indies. About the seventy-second parallel of 
latitude, above the capes of Norway, he turned eastward, but between 
Lapland and Nova Zembla the ocean was filled with icebergs, and further 
sailing was impossible. Baffled but not discouraged, he immediately 
turned his prow toward the shores of America; somewhere between the 
Chesapeake and the North Pole he would find a passage into the Pacific 


ocean. 


2. In the month of July Hudson reached Newfoundland, and passing 
to the coast of Maine, spent some time in repairing his ship, which had 
been shattered in a storm. Sailing thence southward, he touched at Cape 
Cod, and by the middle of August found himself as far south as the 
Chesapeake. Again he turned to the north, determined to examine the 
coast more closely, and on the 28th of the month anchored in Delaware 



VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


61 


Bay. After one day’s explorations the voyage was continued along the 
coast of New Jersey, until, on the 3d of September, the Half Moon came 
to a safe anchorage in the bay of Sandy Hook. Two days later a land¬ 
ing was effected, the natives flocking in great numbers to the scene, and 
bringing gifts of corn, wild fruits and oysters. The time until the 9th 
of the month was spent in sounding the great harbor; on the next day 
the vessel passed the Narrows, and then entered the noble river which 
bears the name of Hudson. 

3. To explore the beautiful stream was now the pleasing task. For 
eight days the Half Moon sailed northward up the river. Such mag¬ 
nificent forests, such beautiful hills, such mountains rising in the distance, 
such fertile valleys, planted here and there with ripening/ corn, the Neth- 
erlanders had never seen before. On the 19th of September the vessel 
was moored at what is now the landing of Kinderhook; but an exploring 
party, still unsatisfied, took to the boats and rowed up the river beyond 
the site of Albany. After some days tney returned to the ship, the moor¬ 
ings were loosed, the vessel dropped down the stream, and on the 4th of 
October the sails were spread for Holland. On the homeward voyage 
Hudson, not perhaps without a touch of national pride, put into the har¬ 
bor of Dartmouth. Thereupon the government of King James, with 
characteristic illiberality, detained the Half Moon, and claimed the crew 
as Englishmen. All that Hudson could do was to forward to his employ¬ 
ers of the East India Company an account of his successful voyage and 
of the delightful country which he had visited under the flag of Holland. 

4. Now were the English merchants ready to spend more money to 
find the north-west passage. In the summer of 1610, a ship, called the 
Discovery, was given to Hudson; and with a vision of the Indies flitting 
before his imagination he left England, never to return. He had learned 
by this time that nowhere between Florida and Maine was there an open¬ 
ing through the continent to the Pacific. The famous pass must now be 
sought between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the southern point of 
Greenland. Steering between Cape Farewell and Labrador, in the track 
which Frobisher had taken, the vessel came, on the 2d day of August, 
into the mouth of the strait which bears the name of its discoverer. No 
ship had ever before entered these waters. For a while the way west¬ 
ward was barred with islands; but passing between them, the bay seemed 
to open, the ocean widened to the right and left, and the route to China 
was at last revealed. So believed the great captain and his crew; but 
sailing farther to the west, the inhospitable shores narrowed on the more 
inhospitable sea, and Hudson found himself environed with the terrors 
of winter in the frozen gulf of the North. With unfaltering courage he 


52 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


bore up until his provisions were almost exhausted; spring was at hand, 
and the day of escape had already arrived, when the treacherous crew 
broke out in mutiny. They seized Hudson and his only son, with seven 
other faithful sailors, threw them into an open shallop, and cast them off 
among the icebergs. The fate of the illustrious mariner has never been 
ascertained. 

5. In the summer of 1610 the Half Moon was liberated at Dartmouth, 
and returned to Amsterdam. In the same year several ships owned by 
Dutch merchants sailed to the banks of the Hudson River and engaged 
in the fur-trade. The traffic was very lucrative, and in the two following 
years other vessels made frequent and profitable voyages. Early in 1614 
an act was passed by the States-General of Holland giving to certain 
merchants of Amsterdam the exclusive right to trade and establish settle¬ 
ments within the limits of the country explored by Hudson. Under this 
commission a fleet of five small trading-vessels arrived in the summer of 
the same year at Manhattan Island. Here some rude huts had already 
been built by former traders, but now a fort for the defence of the place 
was erected, and the settlement named New Amsterdam. In the course 
of the autumn Adrian Block, who commanded one of the ships, sailed 
through East River into Long Island Sound, made explorations along the 
coast as far as the mouth of the Connecticut, thence to Narraganset Bay, 
and even to Cape Cod. Almost at the same time Christianson, another 
Dutch commander, in the same fleet, sailed up the river from Manhattan 
to Castle Island, a short distance below the site of Albany, and erected a 
block-house, which was named Fort Nassau, for a long time the northern 
outpost of the settlers on the Hudson. Meanwhile, Cornelius May, the 
captain of a small vessel called the Fortune, sailed from New Amsterdam 
and explored the Jersey coast as far south as the Bay of Delaware. Upon 
these two voyages, one north and the other south from Manhattan Island 
where the actual settlement was made, Holland set up a feeble claim to 
the country which was now named New Netherlands, extending from 
Cape Henlopen to Cape Cod—a claim which Great Britain and France 
treated with derision and contempt. Such were the feeble and inaus¬ 
picious beginnings of the Dutch colonies in New York and Jersey. 


VOYAGE AND DISCOVERY. 


55 


RECAPITULATION. 


INTRODUCTION. 

What constitutes a period in history.—The first period in the history of the United 
States.—Extends from the discovery of the continent to the establishment of permanent 
settlements.—The second period.—Reaches from the first colonies to the war of the 
Revolution.—The third period.—Embraces the Revolution and the consolidation of the 
government.—The fourth period is most important.—Extends from the adoption of the 
Constitution to the present time. —The names and dates of the several periods. 

CHAPTER I. 

Herjulfson is driven by a storm to the American coast.—Lief Erickson discovers Amer¬ 
ica.—Thorstein Erickson makes a voyage.—Thorfinn Karlsefne explores the shores of 
Maine and Massachusetts.—Other voyages are made by the Norsemen.—No practical 
results from the Icelandic discoveries. 

CHAPTER II. 

Spain makes the New World known to Europe.—Old ideas about the figure of the 
earth.—Columbus.—Sketch of his life.—The favor of Isabella.—Columbus departs on his 
first voyage.—Discovers San Salvador, Cuba and Hayti.—Second voyage of Columbus.— 
Third.—He discovers South America.—Fourth voyage.—Columbus’s misfortunes and 
death.—Wrong done to his memory.—Vespucci makes two voyages to South America.— 
Excitement in Europe on account of discoveries.—Colony planted on the Isthmus.—Bal¬ 
boa discovers the Pacific.—Ponce de Leon makes explorations in Florida.—Is killed in 
a fight with the Indians. 

CHAPTER III. 

Cordova discovers Yucatan.—Grijalva explores Mexico.—Cortez invades and con¬ 
quers the country.—Magellan sails around South America.—Crosses the Pacific.—Is 
killed at the Philippines.—His crew reach the East Indies.—Double the Cape of Good 
Hope.—Return to Europe.—De Narvaez is appointed governor of Florida.—Explores 
the country around the gulf.—The company embark in boats, and are wrecked.—Four 
men reach San Miguel.—De Soto sets out on an expedition to explore and conquer Flo- 
rida.—Arrives at Tampa Bay.—Marches into the interior.—Spends the winter on Flint 
River.—The company march into South Carolina.—Cross into Georgia.—Capture 
Manville.—Spend the next winter on the Yazoo.—Discover the Mississippi.—Explore 
Arkansas and return to the Mississippi.—De Soto dies.—His men again march west¬ 
ward to the mountains.—Return to the mouth of Red River.—Build boats and descend 
the Mississippi.—Reach the Spanish settlements in Mexico.—Melendez comes to Florida, 
and founds St. Augustine.—Murders the Huguenots on the St. John’s.—Massacres the 
crews of the French vessels.—Extent of the Spanish explorations.—The Portuguese voy¬ 
age of Gaspar Cortereal.—He sells a cargo of Indian slaves in Portugal. 



56 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES USED IN PART I. 

[S., Spanish ; F., French; E., English; It., Italian ; I., Indian ; L., Latin ; N., Norse; G., German; 

P., Portuguese.] 


Algonquin [I.], al-zhbn-ken. 

Amerigo Vespucci [It.], ah-mer-e-go v6s- 
poot-che. 

Amidas [E.], ftm-Id-as. 

Antonio de Espego [S.], ahn-to-ni-6 da 6s- 
pa-ho. 

Armada [S.], alir-mah-da. 

Cabot [E.], kSb-ot. 

Cartier [F.], kalir-tl-a. 

Chabot [F.], sha-bo. 

Cham [Tartar], kSm. 

Champlain [F.], sham-plan. 

Chicora [S.], che-ko-ra. 

Coligni [F.], ko-len-ye. 

Columbus [L.], ko-lum-bus. 

Conde [F.], kon-dii. 

Copernicus [L.], ko-per-ni-kus. 

De Monts [F.], du mong. 

De Vaca [S.], da vah-ka. 

Dominic de Gourges [F.], do-man-ek du 
goorzh. 

El Dorado [S.], el do-rah-do. 

Esquimaux [I.], es-kl-moz. 

Ferdinand de Soto [S.], fer-dl-nahnd da 
so-to. 

Ferdinand Gorges [E.], fer-di-nand gor-jez. 
Ferdinand Magellan [P.], fer-di-nand ma- 
jel-ian. 

Fernandez de Cordova [S.], fer-nahn-deth 
da kor-do-va. 

Fernando Cortez [S.], fer-nahn-do kor-teth. 
Frobisher [E.], frob-Lsh-6r. 

Galileo [I.], gah-lT-la-o. 

Gaspar Cortereal [P.], gahs-pahr kor-ta-ra- 

ahl. 

Gosnold [E.], gos-nold. 

Grijalva [S.], gre-hahl-va. 

Hakluyt [E.], hftk-loot. 

Herjulfson [N.], har-yoolf-son. 

Hochelaga [I.], hok-6-lah-ga. 


Huguenots [F.], hu-g6-n5ts. 

Isabella [S.], Iz-a-bel-la. 

Iroquois [I.], ir-6-kwah. 

Juan Ponce de Leon [S.], hwahn pon-tha 
da la-on. 

La Roche [F.], la rosh. 

La Roque [F.], la rok. 

Laudonniere [F.], lo-don-nl-ar. 

Leyden [G.], 11-den. 

Lief Erickson [N.], lef er-Ik-siin. 

Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon [S.], loo-kahs 
vahs-kgtli da Il-yon. 

Mandeville [E.], mftn-dg-vll. 

Manteo [I.], mahn-te-o. 

Manuel [P.], mahn-oo-al. 

Meta Incognita [L.], me-ta In-cog-nl-ta. 
Ojeda [S.], 6-ha-da. 

Pamphilo de Narvaez [S.], pahm-fe-lo da 
nahr-vah-6th. 

Pascua Florida [L.], pahs-koo-a Hor-I-da. 
Pedro Melendez [S.], pa-dro ma-len-d6th. 
Pinta [S.], pen-ta. 

Pizarro [S.], pe-thahr-ro. 

Poutrincourt [F.], poo-tran-koor. 

Raleigh [E.], raw-11. 

Ribault [F.], re-bo. 

Roberval [F.], rob-gr-vahl. 

Rochelle [F.], ro-shel. 

Rodrigo Triana [S.], rod-re-go tre-ah-na. 
Santa Maria [S.], sahn-ta mah-re-a. 
Thorfinn Karlsefne [N.], tor-fin kahrl-s6f-n6, 
Thorstein Erickson [N.], tor-stin er-Ik-sun. 
Vasco de Gama [P.], vahs-ko da gah-ma. 
Vasco Nunez de Balboa [S.], valis-ko iioob< 
yfith da bahl-bo-a. 

Verrazzani [It.], v6r-rat-tsah-ne. 

Warwick [E.], wahr-rlk. 

Way mouth [E.], Ava-muth. 

Wingina [I.], wln-ge-na. 

Xeres [S.], ha-r6th. 





PART III. 

COLONIAL HISTOBY. 

A. D. 1007—1775. 


CHAPTER I. 

VIRGINIA. 

M ANY circumstances impeded the progress of the oldest Virginia 
colony. The first settlers at Jamestown were idle, improvident, 
dissolute. Of the one hundred and five men who came with Newport, 
in the spring of 1607, only twelve were common laborers. There were 
four carpenters in the company, and six or eight masons and blacksmiths, 
but the lack of mechanics was compensated by a long list of forty-eight 
gentlemen. If necessity had not soon driven these to the honorable 
vocations of toil, the colony must have perished. The few married men 
who joined the expedition had left their families in England. The pros¬ 
pect of planting an American State on the banks of James River was 
not at all encouraging. 

2. From the first the affairs of the colony were badly managed. King 
James made out instructions for the organization of the new State, and 
then, with his usual stupidity, sealed up the parchment in a box which 
was not to be opened until the arrival of the emigrants in America. The 
names of the governor and members of the council were thus unknown 
during the voyage; there was no legitimate authority on shipboard; 
insubordination and anarchy prevailed among the riotous company. In 
this state of turbulence and misrule, an absurd suspicion was blown out 
against Captain John Smith, the best and truest man in the colony. He 
was accused of making a plot to murder the council, of which he was 
supposed to be a member, and to make himself monarch of Virginia. 
An arrest followed, and confinement until the end of the voyage. When 
at last the colonists reached the site of their future settlement, the king’s 
instructions were unsealed and the names of the seven members of the 

57 



58 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Inferior Council made known. Then a meeting of that body was held 
and Edward Wingfield duly elected first governor of Virginia. Smith, 
who had been set at liberty, was now charged with sedition and excluded 
from his seat in the council. He demanded to be tried; and when it was 
found that his jealous enemies could bring nothing but their own suspi¬ 
cions against him, he was acquitted, and finally, through the good offices 
of Robert Hunt, restored to his place as a member of the corporation. 

3. As soon as the settlement was well begun and the affairs of the colony 

came into a better 
condition, the rest¬ 
less Smith, accom¬ 
panied by New¬ 
port and twenty 
others, ascended 
and explored 
James River for 
forty-five miles. 
This was the first 
of those marvelous 
expeditions which 
were undertaken 
and carried out by 
Smith’s enterprise 
and daring. Just 
below the falls of 
the river, at the 
present site of 
Richmond, the 
English explorers 
came upon the 
capital of Pow¬ 
hatan, the Indian king. Smith was not greatly impressed with the mag¬ 
nificence of an empire whose chief city was a squalid village of twelve 
wigwams. The native monarch received the foreigners with formal 
courtesy and used his authority to moderate the dislike which his sub¬ 
jects manifested at the intrusion. About the last of May the company 
returned to Jamestown, and fifteen days later Newport embarked for 
England. 

4. The colonists now for the first time began to realize their situation. 
They were alone amid the solitudes of the New World. The beauties 
of the Virginia wilderness were around them, but the terrors of the 






VIRGINIA.—FIRST CHARTER. 


59 


approaching winter were already present to their imagination. In the 
latter part of August dreadful diseases broke out in the settlement, and 
the colony was brought to the verge of ruin. The fort which had been 
built for the defence of the plantation was filled with the sick and dying. 
At one time no more than five men were able to go on duty as sentinels. 
Bartholomew Gosnold, the projector of the colony and one of the best 
men in the council, died, and before the middle of September one-half 
of the whole number had been swept off by the terrible malady. If the 
frosts of autumn had not come to check the ravages of disease, no soul 
would have been left to tell the story. 

5. Civil dissension was added to the other calamities of the settlement. 
President Wingfield, an unprincipled man, and his confederate, George 
Kendall, a member of the council, were detected in embezzling the stores 
of the colony. Attempting to escape in the company’s vessel, they were 
arrested, impeached and removed from office. Only three councilmen 
now remained, Ratcliffe, Martin and Smith; the first was chosen presi¬ 
dent. He was a man who possessed neither ability nor courage, and the 
affairs of the settlers grew worse and worse. After a few weeks of vacil¬ 
lation and incompetency, he, like his predecessor, was caught in an attempt 
to abandon the colony, and willingly gave up an office which he could not 
fill. Only Martin and Smith now remained; the former elected the lat- 
ter president of Virginia! It was a forlorn piece of business, but very 
necessary for the public good. In their distress and bitterness there had 
come to pass among the colonists a remarkable unanimity as to Smith’s 
merits and abilities. The new administration entered upon the discharge 
of its duties without a particle of opposition. 

6. The new president, though not yet thirty years of age, was a veteran 
in every kind of valuable human experience. Born an Englishman; 
trained as a soldier in the wars of Holland; a traveler in France, Italy 
and Egypt; again a soldier in Hungary; captured by the Turks and 
sold as a slave; sent from Constantinople to a prison in the Crimea; 
killing a taskmaster who beat him, and then escaping through the woods 
of Russia to Western Europe; going with an army of adventurers against 
Morocco; finally returning to England and joining the London Com¬ 
pany,—he was now called upon by the very enemies who had persecuted 
and ill-treated him to rescue them and their colony from destruction. A 
strange and wonderful career! John Smith was altogether the most noted 
man in the early history of America. 

7. Under the new administration the Jamestown settlement soon began 
to show signs of vitality and progress. Smith’s first care, after the set¬ 
tlers were in a measure restored to health, was to improve the buildings 


60 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


of the plantation. The fortifications of the place were strengthened, 
dwellings were repaired, a storehouse erected, and everything made ready 
for the coming winter. The next measure was to secure a supply of pro¬ 
visions from the surrounding country. A plentiful harvest among the 
Indians had compensated in some degree for the mismanagement and 
rascality of the former officers of the colony, but to procure corn from the 
natives was not an easy task. Although ignorant of the Indian language, 
Smith undertook the hazardous enterprise. Descending James River as 
far as Hampton Roads, he landed with his five companions, went boldly 
among the natives, and began to offer them hatchets and copper coins in 
exchange for corn. The Indians only laughed at the proposal, and then 
mocked the half-starved foreigners by offering to barter a piece of bread 
for Smith’s sword and musket. Finding that good treatment was only 
thrown away, the English captain formed the desperate resolution of fight¬ 
ing. He and his men fired a volley among the affrighted savages, who 
ran yelling into the woods. Going straight to their wigwams, he found 
an abundant store of corn, but forbade his men to take a grain until the 
Indians should return to attack them. Sixty or seventy painted warriors, 
headed by a priest who carried an idol in his arms, soon came out of the 
forest and made a violent onset. The English not only stood their ground, 
but made a rush, wounded several of the natives and captured their idol. 
A parley now ensued; the terrified priest came and humbly begged for his 
fallen deity, but Smith stood grimly with his musket across the pros¬ 
trate idol, and would grant no terms until six unarmed Indians had loaded 
his boat with corn. Then the image was given up, beads and hatchets 
were liberally distributed among the warriors who ratified the peace by 
performing a dance of friendship, while Smith and his men rowed up the 
river with a boat-load of supplies. 

8. There were other causes of rejoicing at Jamestown. The neighbor¬ 
ing Indians, made liberal by their own abundance, began to come into 
the fort with voluntary contributions. The fear of famine passed away. 
The woods were full of wild turkeys and other game, inviting to the chase 
as many as delighted in such excitement. Good discipline was maintained 
in the settlement and friendly relations established with several of the 
native tribes. Seeing the end of their distresses, the colonists revived in 
spirit; cheerfulness and hope took the place of melancholy and despair. 

9. As soon as the setting in of winter had made an abandonment of 
the colony impossible, the president, to whose ardor winter and summer 
were alike, gave himself freely to the work of exploring the country. 
With a company of six Englishmen and two Indian guides he began the 
ascent of the Chickahominy River. It was generally believed by the 





























.. 


























1600 


ii. Gustavus Adolphus the Great. 

Grotius. 

Galileo. 18. The Thirty Years’ War begins. 

Kepler. 48. Peace of Westphalia* 

24-42. Richelieu. 43 Louis XIY. 


89. Pete 

97 


Shakespeare. 

Bacon. 


Milton. 

49. Cromwell. 


85. Revocation o 
87. Habeas cc 

Locke. 

88 . Secoml 
88 . Williar 

of Mary, 94. Wi 


3. Janies VI. 


James 


1 : 1 


or . t .o T1 .„ 60. The Restoration. 

25. Charles I. 42. The Revolution. 60> charles II. §5. James II] 


7. 


9. Second Charter granted. 42. Berkeley’s administration. 

12. The Third Charter. 44. Indian massacre. 76. Bacon’s Rebellion. 

19. House of Burgesses established. 77. Virginia becomes 

VIRGINIA colonized by the London 51. First Navigation Act. 84. Royal gover 
Company at Jamestown. 


24. Dissolution of the 
London Company. 


50. 


19. Introduction of Slavery. 
John Smith, governor. 


83. Seth Sothel 
NORTH CAROLINA settled by the English 
63. Grant made to Lord Clarendon. 

85. Sir John 
65. Sir John Yeamans, governor 


77. Culpepper’s rebell 


34. 


MARYLAND settled by the Catho- 91. Mar 

lies under Lord Baltimore. 75. Charles Calvert. 

39. Representative government established. 92. Li< 


: 38. Governor Kief. 64. Taken by the English. 91. Slot 

14. : NEW YORK settled by the Dutch. Berkeley and Carteret. 92. F 

: 47. Stuyvesant. 70. Lovelace. . 98. 

56. New York City founded. 74. Edmunc 

: 25. Minuits, governor. : 

38. Wilmington settled by the Swedes. 82dDELAWARI 


23. 


NEW JERSEY settled by the Dutch. 


81. First General Ai 


29. NEW HAMPSHIRE settled. 
30. Boston founded. 


79.: New Hampshire 98 

: as a distinct colony. 


30.: MAINE settled. 


76. King Philip’s defeat 


20.: MASSACHUSETTS settled by the Puritans at Plymouth. 
: 30. Winthrop, governor. 

: 38. Harvard College founded. 

39. First printing-press set up at Cambridge. 


84. Massachu! 
90. First i: 

90. King 


92. Witcl 
excit< 


36. : RHODE ISLAND settled by Roger Williams. 

: 39. Newport founded. 87. Rhode Is' 


: 37. Pequod War. 

30. : CONNECTICUT granted to the earl of Warwick. 

: 35. Saybrook founded. 

:33. Hartford founded. 62. New charter granted. 


89. The hie 


ftH UAL p j £ 


70.: SOUTH CAROLINA 

: Locke’s Constitution adop 
: 86. Arrival of 



82. 


PENNSYI 

the Qual 

92. Penn 













































1700 


the Great. 

Charles XII. 

War of the Spanish Succession. 
Leibnitz. 

13. Peace of Utrecht. 

idict of Nantes. 

us - 15. Louis XV. 

(.evolution. 

ind Mary, and after the death 

iam III. 


62. Catharine II. 

40. Frederick the Great. 

40. War of the Austrian Succession terminated 

by 48. Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. 89. French 

Revolution. 
93. Reign 

Voltaire. 74. Louis XVI. of Ter¬ 

ror. 

Dr. Johnson. Burke. 

65. The Rockingham Ministry. 

Hewton. Chatham. ™t. 

55. War between France and England. ox * 


65. The Stamp Act, 
2. Anne. 14. George I. 27. George II. 60. George III. 


Proprietary government. 
: tent re-established. 


32. Birth of Washington. 65. The Virginia 


j governor. 

9. Arrival of the German immigrants. 

jrchdale, governor. 

11. The Coree War. 

Hi. 29. Final separation of the Carolinas. 


vj.nd becomes a royal government. 

oiel Copley. 


Resolutions. 




ahter, governor. 

I|tcher. 1. Cornbury. 
, iellamont. 
lUmlros. 


44. Negro plot. 58. Fall of Louisburg. 

32. Cosby, governor. 65. Declaration: of Rights. 

54. French and Indian : War. 

65. First Colonial Congress assembles at New York. 


Separated from New York. 


id death. 

4. First newspaper, 
s ts loses her charter, 
e of paper money 

illiam’s War. 

1 . Queen Anne’s War. 

ift 10. First post-office, 
mt. 


Tnion of East and West Jersey, 
mbly. 


Dr. Benjamin: Franklin. 

38. Royal government established. : 


Fnited with Massachusetts. 41. : New Hampshire finally sepa- : 

20. Introduction of tea. : rated from Mass. 67. The tea tax. 


61. Writs of Assistance. 

73. The Boston “ Tea Party." 


44. King George’s War 

45 


75. 


Lexington. 


Louisburg taken. 74. Boston Port Bill. 

68. General Gage arrives in Boston. 


59. 


||| Quebec 75. 
J taken. 70. 


Bunker Hill. 
'Tumult in Boston. 


d joined to New York. 


5 of the charter. 

Yale College founded. 


tied by the English. 

2. Expedition against St. Augustine. 

; Huguenots. 29. Royal government established. 


IRTA settled by 
5 under Penn, 
es his commission. 


55. 


76. Independence. 

Braddock’s defeat. 

74. Second Congress assem¬ 
bles at Philadelphia. 



GEORGIA settled by the English 
under Oglethorpe. : 

52. Royal government established. 














































62 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


thoroughly superstitious, and became afraid to proceed against him except 
in tie most formal manner. He was regarded by them as an inhabitant 
of another world whom it was dangerous to touch. 

12. Smith was first taken to the town of Orapax, a few miles north¬ 
east of the site of Richmond. Here he found the Indians making 
great preparations to attack and destroy Jamestown. They invited him 
to join them and become their leader, but he refused, and then terrified 
them by describing the cannon and other destructive weapons of the 
English. He also managed to write a letter to his countrymen at the 
settlement, telling them of his captivity and their own peril, asking for 
certain articles, and requesting especially that those bearing the note should 
be thoroughly frightened before their return. This letter, which seemed 
to them to have such mysterious power of carrying intelligence to a dis¬ 
tance, was not lost on the Indians, who dreaded the writer more than ever. 
When the warriors bearing the epistle arrived at Jamestown and found 
everything precisely as Smith had said, their terror and amazement knew 
no bounds, and as soon as they returned to Orapax all thought of attack¬ 
ing the settlement was at once given up. 

13. The Indians now marched their captive about from village to vil¬ 
lage, the interest and excitement constantly increasing, until, near the 
fork of York River, they came to Pamunkey, the capital of Opechan- 
canough. Here Smith was turned over to the priests, who assembled in 
their Long House, or judgment-hall, and for three days together danced 
around him, sang and yelled after the manner of their superstition. The 
object was to determine by this wild ceremony what their prisoner’s fate 
should be. The decision was against him, and he was condemned to death. 

14. It was necessary that the sanction of the Indian emperor should 
be given to the sentence, and Smith was now taken twenty-five miles 
down the river to a town where Powhatan lived in winter. The savage 
monarch was now sixty years of age, and, to use Smith’s own language, 
looked every inch a king. He received the prisoner with all the rude 
formalities peculiar to his race. Going to the Long House of the village, 
the emperor, clad in a robe of raccoon skins, took his seat on a kind of 
throne prepared for the occasion. His two daughters sat right and left, 
while files of warriors, and women of rank were ranged around the hall. 
The king solemnly reviewed the cause and confirmed the sentence of 
death. Two large stones were brought into the hall, Smith was dragged 
forth bound* and his head put into position to be crushed with a war- 
club. A stalwart painted savage was ordered out of the rank and stood 
ready for the bloody tragedy. The signal was given, the grim execu¬ 
tioner raised his bludgeon, and another moment had decided the fate of 


VIRGINIA.—FIRST CHARTER. 


63 


both the illustrious captive and his colony. But the peril went by harm¬ 
less. Matoaka,* the eldest daughter of Powhatan, sprang from her seat 
and rushed between the warrior’s uplifted club and the prostrate prisoner. 
She clasped his head in her arms and held on with the resolution of despair 
until her father, yielding to her frantic appeals, ordered Smith to be 
unbound and lifted up. Again he was rescued from a terrible death. 
There is no reason in the world for doubting the truth of this affecting 
and romantic story, one of the most marvelous and touching in the his¬ 
tory of any nation. 

15. Powhatan, having determined to spare his captive’s life, received 
him into favor. The prisoner should remain in the household of the mon¬ 
arch, making hatchets for the warriors and toys for the king’s daughters. 
By degrees his liberties were enlarged, and it was even agreed soon 
afterward that he should return to his own people at Jamestown. The 
conditions of his liberation were that he should send back to Orapax two 
cannons and a grindstone. Certain warriors were to accompany Smith to 
the settlement and carry the articles to Powhatan. There should then 
be peace and friendship between the English and the Bed men. The 
journey was accordingly begun, the company camping at night in the 
woods, and Smith being in constant peril of his life from the uncertain 
disposition of the savages. But the colony was reached in safety, the lost 
captain and his twelve Indian guides being received with great gladness. 

16. Smith’s first and chief care was to make a proper impression on 
the minds of the savages. He had improved the opportunities of his 
captivity by learning the language of Powhatan’s people, and by making 
himself familiar with their peculiarities and weaknesses—an experience of 
vast importance to himself and the colony. He now ordered the two 
cannons which he had promised to give Powhatan to be brought out and 
loaded to the muzzle with stones. Then, under pretence of teaching the 
Indians gunnery, he had the pieces discharged among the tree-tops, which 
were bristling with icicles. There was a terrible crash, and the savages, 
cowering with fear and amazement, could not be induced to touch the 
dreadful engines. The barbarous delegation returned to their king with 
neither guns nor grindstones. 

17. As a matter of fact, the settlers were very little to be dreaded by 
anybody. Only thirty-eight of them were left alive, and these were frost¬ 
bitten and half starved. Their only competent leader had been absent 
for seven weeks in the middle of one of the severest winters known in 

* Powhatan’s tribe had a superstition that no one whose real name was unknown could 
be injured. They, therefore told the English falsely that Matoaka’s name was Poca¬ 
hontas. 


5 


64 


HISTORY OF THE VSITED STATES. 


modern times. The old fears and discontents of the colonists had revived; 
and when Smith returned to the settlement, he found all hands preparing 
to escape in the pinnace as soon as the ice should break in the river. 
With much persuasion and a few wholesome threats he induced the 
majority to abandon this project, but the factious spirits of the colony, 
burning with resentment against him and his influence, made a conspir¬ 
acy to kill him, and he knew not what hour might be his last. 

18. In the midst of these dark days Captain Newport arrived from 
England. He brought a full store of supplies and one hundred and 
twenty emigrants. Great was the joy throughout the little plantation; 
only the president was at heart as much grieved as gladdened, for he saw 
in the character of the new comers no promise of anything but vexation 
and disaster. Here were thirty-four gentlemen at the head of the list 
to begin with; then came gold-hunters, jewelers, engravers, adventurers, 
strollers and vagabonds, many of whom had more business in jail than 
at Jamestown. To add to Smith’s chagrin, this company of worthless 
creatures had been sent out contrary to his previous protest and injunc¬ 
tion. He had urged Newport to bring over only a few industrious 
mechanics and laborers; but the love of gold among the members of the 
London Company had prevailed over common sense to send to Virginia 
another crowd of profligates. 

19. The kind of industry which Smith had encouraged in the colony 
was now laughed at. As soon as the weather would permit, the new¬ 
comers and as many of the old settlers as had learned nothing from the 
past year’s experience began to stroll about the country digging for gold. 
In a bank of sand at the mouth of a small tributary of the James some 
glittering particles were found, and the whole settlement was ablaze with 
excitement. Martin and Newport, both members of the council, were 
carried away with the common fanaticism. The former already in imagi¬ 
nation saw himself loaded with wealth and honored with a peerage. The 
latter, having filled one of his ships with the supposed gold-dust, sent it 
to England, and then sailed up James River to find the Pacific Ocean! 
Fourteen weeks of the precious springtime, that ought to have been given 
to ploughing and planting, were consumed in this stupid nonsense. Even 
the Indians ridiculed the madness of men who for imaginary grains of 
gold were wasting their chances for a crop of corn. 

20. In this general folly Smith was quite forgotten ; but foreseeing that 
the evil must soon work its own cure, he kept his patience, and in the 
mean time busied himself with one of his most brilliant and successful 
enterprises; this was no less than the exploration of Chesapeake Bay and 
its tributaries. Accompanied by Dr. Russell and thirteen other comrades 







VIRGINIA.—FIRST CHARTER . 


65 


who had remained faithful to him, lie left Jamestown on the 2d day of 
June. He had nothing but an open barge of three tons’ burden, but in 
this he steered boldly out by way of Hampton Roads and Cape Henry 
as far as Smith’s Island. Returning thence around the peninsula which 
ends with Cape Charles, the survey of the eastern shore of the bay was 
begun, and continued northward as far as the river Wicomico, in Mary¬ 
land. From this point the 
expedition crossed over to the 
mouth of the Patuxent, and 
thence coasted northward along 
the western side to the Pataps- 
co. Here some members of 
the company became discon¬ 
tented, and insisted on return¬ 
ing to the colony. Smith gave 
a reluctant consent, but in steer¬ 
ing southward had the good 
fortune to enter the mouth of 
the Potomac. The crew were 
so much pleased with the pros¬ 
pect that they agreed to explore 
the great river before returning 
homeward. Accordingly, the 
barge was steered up stream as 
far as the falls above George¬ 
town. The country was much 
admired; and when the explor¬ 
ers were tired of adventure, 
they dropped down the river 
to the bay, and turning south¬ 
ward, reached Jamestown on 

21. After a rest of three days a second voyage was begun. This time 
the expedition reached the head of the bay, and sailed up the Susquehanna 
River until the volume of water would float the barge no farther. Here 
an acquaintance was made with a race of Indians of gigantic stature and 
fiercer disposition than was known among the natives of Virginia. On 
the return voyage Smith passed down the bay, exploring every sound and 
inlet of any note, as far as the mouth of the Rappahannoc; this stream 
he ascended to the head of navigation, and then, returning by way of the 
York and Chesapeake Rivers, reached Jamestown on the 7th of Septem- 


the 21st of July 



Smith’s First Voyage in the Chesapeake -- 
Smith’s Second Voyage in the Chesapeake 













66 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


ber. He had been absent a little more than three months, had explored 
the winding coast of the great bay for fully three thousand miles, had 
encountered hostile savages by hundreds and thousands, had been driven 
hither and thither by storms, once wrecked, once stung by a poisonous 
fish and brought so near to death that his comrades digged his grave; 
now he was come back to the colony with a Map of the Chesapeake, 
which he sent by Newport to England, and which is still preserved. Only 
one man had been lost on the expedition. Richard Fetherstone had died, 
and was buried on the Rappahannoc. 

22. Within three days after Smith’s return to Jamestown he was form¬ 
ally elected president. He entered at once upon the duties of his office, 
correcting abuses, enforcing the laws and restoring order to the distracted 
colony. There was a marked change for the better; gold-hunting be¬ 
came unpopular, and the rest of the year was noted as a season of great 
prosperity. Late in the autumn Newport arrived with seventy additional 
immigrants, increasing the number to more than two hundred. The 
health was so good that only seven deaths occurred between September 
and May of the following year. Excellent discipline was maintained. 
Every well man w r as obliged to work six hours a day. New houses were 
built, new fields fenced in; and all through the winter the sound of axe 
and saw and hammer gave token of a prosperous and growing village. 
Such was the condition of affairs in the spring of 1609. 


CHAPTER II. 

THE SECOND CHARTER. 

O N the 23d of May, 1609, King James, without consulting the wishes 
of his American colonists, revoked their constitution, and granted to 
the London Company a new charter, by the terms of which the govern¬ 
ment of Virginia was completely changed. The territory included under 
the new patent extended from Cape Fear to Sandy Hook, and westward 
to the Pacific Ocean. The members of the Superior Council were now 
to be chosen by the stockholders of the company, vacancies were to be 
filled by the councilors, who were also empowered to elect a governor 
from their own number. 

2. The council was at once organized in accordance with this charter, 





VIRGINIA.—SECOND CHARTER. 


67 


and the excellent Lord De La Ware chosen governor for life. With him 
were joined in authority Sir Thomas Gates, lieutenant-general; Sir George 
Somers, admiral; Christopher Newport, vice-admiral; Sir Thomas Dale, 
high marshal; Sir Ferdinand Wainman, master of horse; and other dig¬ 
nitaries of similar sort. Attracted by the influence of these noblemen, a 
large company of more than five hundred emigrants was speedily col¬ 
lected, and early in June a fleet of nine vessels sailed for America. Lord 
Delaware did not himself accompany the expedition, but delegated his 
authority to three commissioners, Somers, Gates and Newport. About 
the middle of July the ships, then passing the West Indies, were over¬ 
taken and scattered by a storm. One small vessel was wrecked, and 
another, having on board the commissioners of Lord Delaware, was driven 
ashore on one of the Bermuda Islands, where the crew remained until 
April of the following year; the other seven ships came safely to James¬ 
town. 

3. But who should now be governor ? Captain Smith was at first dis¬ 
posed to give up his office, but in a few days the affairs of the colony 
were plainly going to ruin, and he was urged by the old settlers and the 
better class of new-comers to continue in authority. Accordingly, declar¬ 
ing that his powers as president under the old constitution did not cease 
until some one should arrive from England properly commissioned to 
supersede him, he kept resolutely to the discharge of his duties, although 
in daily peril of his life. He arrested Ratcliffe* and Archer, put some 
of the most rebellious brawlers in prison, and then, in order to distract 
the attention of the rest, planned two new settlements, one, of a hun¬ 
dred and twenty men, under the command of Martin, to be established 
at Nansemond; the other, of the same number, under Captain West, to 
form a colony at the falls of the James. Both companies behaved badly. 
In a few days after their departure troubles arose between West’s men 
and the Indians. The president was sent for in order to settle the diffi¬ 
culty ; but finding his efforts unavailing, he returned to Jamestown. On 
his way down the river, while asleep in the boat, a bag of gunpowder 
lying near by exploded, burning and tearing his flesh so terribly that in 
his agony he leaped overboard. Being rescued from the river, he was 
carried to the fort, where he lay for some time racked with fever and tor¬ 
tured with his wounds. Finally, despairing of relief under the imperfect 
medical treatment which the colony afforded, he decided to return to 
England. He accordingly delegated his authority to Sir George Percy, 
a brother of the earl of Northumberland, and about the middle of Sep- 

* This man’s real name was not Ratcliffe, but Sicklemore. He had freen president of 
the colony in 1607 , and was an accomplished thief as well as an impostor. 


08 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


tember, 1609, left the scene of his heroic toils and sufferings, never to 
return. 

4. There remained at Jamestown a colony of four hundred and ninety 
persons, well armed, well sheltered and well supplied. But such was the 
viciousness and profligacy of the greater number, and such the insubor¬ 
dination and want of proper leadership, after Smith’s departure, that by 
the beginning of winter the settlement was face to face with starvation 
The Indians became hostile and hovered around the plantations, strag¬ 
glers were intercepted and murdered, houses were fired at every opportu¬ 
nity, disease returned to add to the desolation, and cold and hunger 
completed the terrors of a winter which was long remembered with a 
shudder and called The Starving Time. By the last of March there 
were only sixty persons alive, and these, if help had not come speedily, 
could hardly have lived a fortnight. 

5. Meanwhile, Sir Thomas Gates and his companions, who had been 
shipwrecked in the Bermudas, had constructed out of the materials of 
their old ship, with such additional timber as they could cut from the for¬ 
est, two small vessels, and set sail for Virginia. They came in full expec¬ 
tation of a joyful greeting from a happy colony. What, therefore, was 
their disappointment and grief when a few wan, half-starved wretches 
crawled out of their cabins to beg for bread! Whatever stores the com¬ 
missioners had brought with them were distributed to the famishing 
settlers, and Gates assumed control of the government. 

6. But the colonists had now fully determined to abandon for ever a 
place which promised them nothing but disaster and death. In vain did 
the commissioners remonstrate; they were almost driven by the clamors 
around them to yield to the common will. An agreement was made to 
sail for Newfoundland; there the remnant of the Virginia colony should 
be distributed among the fishermen until such time as some friendly ship 
might carry them back to England. 

7. On the 8th of June Jamestown was abandoned. The disheartened 
settlers, now grown resentful, were anxious before leaving to burn the 
town, but Gates defeated this design, and was himself the last man to go 
on board. Four pinnaces lay at their moorings in the river; embark¬ 
ing in these, the colonists dropped down with the tide, and it seemed as 
though the enterprise of Kaleigh and Gosnold had ended in failure and 
humiliation. 

8. But Lord Delaware was already on his way to America. Before 
the escaping settlers had passed out of the mouth of the river, the ships 
of the noble governor came in sight. Here were additional immigrants, 
plentiful supplies and promise of better things to come. Would the 


VIR GIN I A.—SECOND CHARTER. 


69 


colonists return ? The majority gave a reluctant consent, and before night- 
tall the fires were again kindled on the hearthstones of the deserted village. 
The next day was given to religious services; the governor caused his com¬ 
mission to be read, and entered upon the discharge of his duties. The 
amiability and virtue of his life, no less than the mildness and decision of 
his administration, endeared him to all and inspired the colony with hope. 

9. Autumn came, and Lord Delaware fell sick. Against his own will, 
and to the great regret of the colony, he was compelled to return to Eng¬ 
land. Having reluctantly delegated his authority to Percy—the same 
who had been the deputy of Captain Smith—the good Delaware set sail 
for his own country. It was an event of great discouragement; but for¬ 
tunately, before a knowledge of the governor’s departure reached England, 
the Superior Council had despatched a new shipload of stores and another 
company of emigrants, under command of Sir Thomas Dale. The vessel 
arrived at Jamestown on the 10th of May, and Percy was superseded by 
the captain, who bore a commission from the council. Dale had been a 
military officer in the wars of the Netherlands, and he now adopted a 
system of martial law as the basis of his administration. He was, how¬ 
ever, a man so tolerant and just that very little complaint was made on 
account of his arbitrary method of governing. 

10. One of Dale’s first acts was to write to the council in England, 
requesting that body to send out immediately as large a number of colon¬ 
ists as possible, with an abundance of supplies. For once the council acted 
promptly; and in the latter part of August, Sir Thomas Gates arrived with 
sl fleet of six ships, having on board three hundred immigrants and a large 
quantity of stores. There was great thanksgiving in the colony, a fresh 
enthusiasm was enkindled, and contentment came with a sense of security. 

11. Thus far the property of the settlers at Jamestown had been held 
in common. The colonists had worked together, and in time of harvest 
deposited their products in storehouses which were under the control of 
the governor and council. Now the right of holding private property 
was recognized. Governor Gates had the lands divided so that each set¬ 
tler should have three acres of his own; every family might cultivate a 
garden and plant an orchard, the fruits of which no one but the owner 
was allowed to gather. The benefits of this system of labor were at once 
apparent. The laborers, as soon as each was permitted to claim the 
rewards of his own toil, became cheerful and industrious. There were 
now seven hundred persons in the colony; new plantations were laid out 
on every side, and new settlements were formed on both banks of the 
river and at considerable distances from Jamestown. The promise of an 
American State, so long deferred, seemed at last to be realized. 


70 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER III. 

THE THIRD CHARTER. 

I 71ARLY in the year 1612 the London Company obtained from the 
-J king a third patent, by the terms of which the character of the gov¬ 
ernment was entirely changed. The Superior Council was abolished and 
the powers of that body transferred to the stockholders, who were author¬ 
ized to hold public meetings, to elect their own officers, to discuss and 
decide all questions of law and right, and to govern the colony on their 
own responsibility. The cause of this change was the unprofitableness- 
of the colony as a financial enterprise, and the consequent dissatisfaction 
of the company with the management of the council. The new patent, 
although not so intended by the king, was a great step toward a demo¬ 
cratic form of government in Virginia. 

2. The year 1613 was marked by two important events, both of them 
resulting from the lawless behavior of Captain Samuel Argali. While 
absent on an expedition up the Potomac River he learned that Pocahon¬ 
tas, who had had some difficulty with her father’s tribe, was residing in 
that neighborhood. Procuring the help of a treacherous Indian family, 
the English captain enticed the unsuspecting girl on board his vessel and 
carried her captive to Jamestown. The authorities of the colony, instead 
of punishing Argali for this atrocity, aggravated the outrage by demand¬ 
ing that Powhatan should pay a heavy ransom for his daughter’s libera¬ 
tion. The old king indignantly refused, and ordered his tribes to prepare 
for war. Meanwhile, Pocahontas, who seems not to have been greatly 
grieved on account of her captivity, was converted to the Christian faith 
and became by baptism a member of the Episcopal Church. She was 
led to this course of action chiefly by the instruction and persuasion of 
John Rolfe, a worthy young man of the colony, who after the baptism 
of the princess sought her in marriage. Powhatan and his chief men 
gave their consent, and the nuptials were duly celebrated in the spring 
of the following year. By this means war was averted, and a bond of 
union established between the Indians and the whites. 

3. Two years later Rolfe and his wife went to England, where they 
were received in the highest circles of society. Captain Smith gave them 
a letter of introduction to Queen Anne, and many other flattering atten- 


VIRGINIA .—THIRD CHARTER . 


71 


tions were bestowed on the modest daughter of the Western wilderness. 
In the following year, Rolfe made preparations to return to America; but 
before embarking, Pocahontas fell sick and died. There was left of this 
marriage a son, who afterward came to Jamestown and was a man of some 
importance in the affairs of the colony. To him several influential families 
of Virginians still trace their origin. John Randolph of Roanoke was a 
grandson of the sixth generation from Pocahontas. 

4. When Captain Argali returned from his expedition up the Potomac, 
he was sent with an armed vessel to the coast of Maine. The avowed 
object of the voyage was to protect the English fishermen who frequented 
the waters between the Bay of Fundy and Cape Cod, but the real pur¬ 
pose was to destroy the colonies of France, if any should be found within 
the limits of the territory claimed by England. Arriving at his destina¬ 
tion, Argali soon found opportunity for the display of his violence and 
rapacity. The French authorities of Acadia were at this time building 
a village on Mount Desert Island, near the mouth of the Penobscot. This 
settlement was the first object of Argali’s vengeance. The place was cap¬ 
tured, pillaged and burned; part of the inhabitants were put on board a 
vessel bound for France, and the rest were carried to the Chesapeake. The 
French colony at the mouth of the St. Croix River next attracted the 
attention of the English captain, who cannonaded the fort and destroyed 
every building in the settlement. Passing thence across the bay to 
Port Royal, Argali burned the deserted hamlet which Poutrincourt and 
his companions had built there eight years before. On his way back to 
Virginia he made a descent on the Dutch traders of Manhattan Island, 
destroyed many of their huts, and compelled the settlers to acknowledge 
the sovereignty of England. The result of these outrageous proceedings 
was to confine the French settlements in America to the banks of the St. 
Lawrence, and to leave a clear coast for the English flag from Nova Scotia 
to Florida. 

5. In the month of March, 1614, Sir Thomas Gates returned to Eng¬ 
land, leaving the government in the hands of Dale, whose administration 
lasted for two years. During this time the laws of the colony were 
much improved, and, more important still, the colonial industry took 
an entirely different form. Hitherto the labor of the settlers had been 
directed to the planting of vineyards and to the manufacture of potash, 
soap, glass and tar. The managers of the London Company had at last 
learned that these articles could be produced more cheaply in Europe 
than in America. They had also discovered that there were certain 
products peculiar to the New World which might be raised and exported 
with great profit. Chief among such native products was the plant called 


72 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


tobacco, the use of which had already become fashionable in Spain, Eng¬ 
land and France. This, then, became the leading staple of the colony, 
and was even used for money. So entirely did the settlers give them¬ 
selves to the cultivation of the famous weed that the very streets of 
Jamestown were ploughed up and planted with it. 

6. It was a great disaster to the people of the colony when Argali was 
chosen deputy-governor. He was a man who had one virtue, courage; 
and in all other respects was thoroughly bad. The election occurred in 
1617, and through the influence of an unscrupulous faction composed of 
Argali’s friends he was not only selected as Lord Delaware’s deputy in 
America, but was also made an admiral of the English navy. His 
administration was characterized by fraud, oppression and violence. 
Neither property nor life was secure against his tyranny and greed. By 
and by, the news of his proceedings reached England; emigration ceased 
at once, and the colony became a reproach, until Lord Delaware restored 
confidence by embarking in person for Virginia. But the worthy noble¬ 
man died on the voyage, and Argali continued his exactions and cruelty. 
In the spring of 1619, he was at last displaced through the influence 
of Sir Edwyn Sandys, and the excellent Sir George Yeardley appointed 
to succeed him. 

7. Martial law was now abolished. The act which required each 
settler to give a part of his labor for the common benefit was also 
repealed, and thus the people were freed from a kind of colonial servi¬ 
tude. Another action was taken of still greater importance. Governor 
Yeardley, in accordance with instructions received from the company, 
divided the plantations along James River into eleven districts, called 
boroughs, and issued a proclamation to the citizens of each borough to 
elect two of their own number to take part in the government of the 
colony. The elections were duly held, and on the 30th of July, 1619, 
the delegates came together at Jamestown. Here was organized the 
Virginia House of Burgesses, a colonial legislature, the first popular 
assembly held in the New World. 

8. The Burgesses had many privileges, but very little power. They 
might discuss the affairs of the colony, but could not control them; pass 
laws, but could not enforce them; declare their rights, but could not 
secure them. Though the governor and council should both concur in 
the resolutions of the assembly, no law was binding until ratified by the 
company in England. Only one great benefit was gained—the freedom 
of debate. Wherever that is recognized, liberty must soon follow. 

9. The year 1619 was also marked by the introduction of negro slavery 
into Virginia. The servants of the people of Jamestown had hitherto 




VIRGINIA.—THIRD CHARTER. 


73 


been persons of English or German descent, and their term of service 
had varied from a few months to many years. No perpetual servitude 
had thus far been recognized, nor is it likely that the English colonists 
would of themselves have instituted the system of slave labor. In the 
month of August a Dutch man-of-war sailed up the river to the planta¬ 
tions, and offered by auction twenty Africans. They were purchased by 
the wealthier class of planters, and made slaves for life. It was, however, 
nearly a half century from this time before the system of negro slavery 
became well established in the English colonies. 

10. Twelve years had now passed since the founding of Jamestown. 
Eighty thousand pounds sterling, had been spent by the company in the 
attempted development of the new State. As a result there were only 
six hundred men in the colony, and these for the most part were rovers 
who intended to return to England. Sir Thomas Smith, the treasurer, 
had managed matters badly. Very few families had emigrated, and 
society in Virginia was coarse and vicious. In this condition of affairs 
Smith was superseded by Sir Edwyn Sandys, a man of great prudence and 
integrity. A reformation of abuses was at once begun and carried out. 
By his wisdom and liberality the new treasurer succeeded before the end 
of the summer of 1620 in collecting and sending to America a company 
of twelve hundred and sixty-one persons. Another measure of still 
greater importance was equally successful. By the influence of Sandys 
and his friends, ninety young women of good breeding and modest man¬ 
ners were induced to emigrate to Jamestown. In the following spring sixty 
others of similar good character came over, and received a hearty welcome. 

11. The statement that'the early Virginians bought their wives is 
absurd. All that was done was this : when Sandys sent the first company 
of women to America, he charged the colonists with the expense of the 
voyage—a measure made necessary by the fact that the company was 
almost bankrupt. An assessment was made according to the number 
who were brought over, and the rate fixed at a hundred and twenty 
pounds of tobacco for each passenger—a sum which the settlers cheerfully 
paid. The many marriages that followed were celebrated in the usual 
way, and nothing further was thought of the transaction. When the sec¬ 
ond shipload came, the cost of transportation was reported at a hundred and 
fifty pounds for each passenger, which was also paid without complaint. 

12. In July of 1621 the London Company, which had now almost 
run its course, gave to Virginia a code of written laws and frame of 
government modeled after the English constitution. The terms of the 
instrument were few and easily understood. The governor of the colony 
was as hitherto to be appointed by the company, a council to be chosen 


74 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


by the same body, and a house of burgesses, two members from each 
district, to be elected by the people. In making laws the councilors and 
burgesses sat together. When a new law was proposed, it was debated, 
and if passed received the governor’s signature, then was transmitted to 
England and ratified or rejected by the company. The constitution also 
acknowledged the right of petition and of trial by jury, but the most 
remarkable and liberal concession was that which gave the burgesses the 
power of vetoing any objectionable acts of the company. 

13. Governor Yeardley’s administration ended in October of 1621. 
At that time Sir Francis Wyatt arrived, commissioned as governor and 
bearing the new constitution of Virginia. The colony was found in a 
very flourishing condition. The settlements extended for a hundred and 
forty miles along both banks of James Fiver and far into the interior, 
especially northward toward the Potomac. There remained but one 
cause of foreboding and alarm. The Indians had seen in all this growth 
and prosperity the doom of their own race, and had determined to make 
one desperate effort to destroy their foes before it should be too late. To 
do this in open war was impossible; necessity and the savage impulse work¬ 
ing together suggested treachery as the only means likely to accomplish 
the result. Circumstances favored the villainous undertaking. Pocahon¬ 
tas was dead. The peaceable and faith-keeping Powhatan had likewise 
passed away. The ambitious and crafty Opechancanough, who succeeded 
to his brother’s authority in 1618, had ever since been plotting the destruc¬ 
tion of the English colony, and the time had come for the bloody tragedy. 

14. The savages carefully concealed their murderous purpose. Until 
the very day of the massacre they continued on terms of friendship with 
the English. They came unmolested into the settlements, ate with their 
victims, borrowed boats and guns, made purchases, and gave not the 
slightest token of hostility. The attack was planned for the 22d of 
March, at mid-day. At the fatal hour the work of butchery began. 
Every hamlet in Virginia was attacked by a band of yelling barbarians. 
No age, sex or condition awakened an emotion of pity. Men, women 
and children were indiscriminately slaughtered, until three hundred and 
forty-seven had perished under the knives and hatchets of the savages. 

15. But Indian treachery was thwarted by Indian faithfulness. What 
was the chagrin and rage of the warriors to find that Jamestown and the 
other leading settlements had been warned at the last moment, and were 
prepared for the onset ? A converted Bed man, wishing to save an Eng¬ 
lishman who had been his friend, went to him on the night before the 
massacre and revealed the plot. The alarm was spread among the settle¬ 
ments, and thus the greater part of the colony escaped destruction. But 


VIRGINIA.—THIRD CHARTER. 


75 


the outer plantations were entirely destroyed. The people crowded to¬ 
gether on the larger farms about Jamestown, until of the eighty settlements 
there were only eight remaining. Still, there were sixteen hundred reso¬ 
lute men in the colony; and although gloom and despondency prevailed 
for a while, the courage of the settlers soon revived, and sorrow gave 
place to a desire for vengeance. 

16. It was now the turn of the Indians to suffer. Parties of English 
soldiers scoured the country in every direction, destroying wigwams, 
burning villages and killing every savage that fell in their way, until the 
tribes of Opechancanough were driven into the wilderness. The colon¬ 
ists, regaining their confidence and zeal, returned to their deserted farms, 
and the next year brought such additions that the census showed a popu¬ 
lation of two thousand five hundred. 

17. Meanwhile, difficulties arose between the corporation and the king. 
Most of the members of the London Company belonged to the patriot 
party in England, and the freedom with which they were in the habit of 
discussing political and governmental matters was very distasteful to the 
monarch. A meeting of the stockholders, now a numerous body, was 
held once every three months, and the debates took a wider and still 
wider range. The liberal character of the Virginia constitution was 
offensive to King James, who determined by some means to obtain con¬ 
trol of the London Company, or else to suppress it altogether. A com¬ 
mittee was accordingly appointed to look into the affairs of the cor¬ 
poration and to make a report on its management. The commissioners 
performed their duty, and reported that the company, in addition to being 
a hot-bed of political agitation, was unsound in every part, that the treas¬ 
ury was bankrupt, and especially that the government of Virginia was 
bad and would continue so until a radical change should be made in the 
constitution of the new State. 

18. Legal proceedings were now instituted by the ministers to ascer¬ 
tain whether the company’s charter had not been forfeited. The question 
came before the judges, who had no difficulty in deciding that the violated 
patent was null and void. In accordance with this decision, the charter 
of the corporation was canceled by the king, and in June of 1624 the 
London Company ceased to exist. But its work had been well done; a 
torch of liberty had been lighted on the banks of the James which all 
the gloomy tyranny of after times could not extinguish. The Virgin¬ 
ians were not slow to remember and to claim ever afterward the precious 
rights which were guaranteed in the constitution of 1621. And the 
other colonies would be satisfied with nothing less than the chartered 
privileges which were recognized in the laws of the Old Dominion. 


76 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER IV. 

VIRGINIA.—THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 

A ROYAL government was now established in Virginia. To the 
colonists themselves the change of authorities was scarcely percepti¬ 
ble. The new administration consisted of a governor and twelve coun¬ 
cilors appointed by the crown. The General Assembly of the colony 
was left undisturbed, and all the rights and privileges of the colonists 
remained as before. The king’s hostility had been directed against the 
London Company, and not against the State of Virginia; now that the 
former was destroyed the latter was left unmolested. Governor Wyatt 
was continued in office; and in making up the new council the king 
wisely took pains to select the known friends of the colony rather than 
certain untried partisans of his own court. The Virginians found in the 
change of government as much cause of gratitude as of grief. 

2. King James of England died in 1625. His son, Charles I., a young, 
inexperienced and stubborn prince, succeeded to the throne. The new 
king paid but little attention to the affairs of his American colony, until 
the commerce in tobacco attracted his notice. Seeing in this product a 
source of revenue for the crown, he attempted to gain a monopoly of the 
trade, but the colonial authorities outwitted him and defeated the project. 
It is worthy of special note that while conferring with the colony on this 
subject the king recognized the Virginia assembly as a rightfully consti¬ 
tuted power. The reply which was finally returned to the king’s proposal 
was signed not only by the governor and council, but by thirty-one of the 
burgesses. 

3. In 1626 Governor Wyatt retired from office, and Yeardley, the old 
friend and benefactor of the colonists, was reappointed. The young 
State was never more prosperous than under this administration, which 
was terminated by the governor’s death, in November of 1627. During 
the preceding summer a thousand new immigrants had come to swell the 
population of the growing province. 

4. The council of Virginia had a right, in case of an emergency, to 
elect a governor. Such an emergency was now present, and Francis 
West was chosen by the councilors; but as soon as the death of Yeardley 



VIRGINIA.—THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 


77 


was known in England, King Charles commissioned John Harvey to 
assume the government. He arrived in the autumn of 1629, and from 
this time until 1635, the colony was distracted with the presence of a 
most unpopular chief magistrate. He seems to have been disliked on 
general principles, but the greatest source of dissatisfaction was his par¬ 
tiality to certain speculators and land monopolists who at this time in¬ 
fested Virginia, to the annoyance and injury of the poorer people. There 
were many old land grants covering districts of territory which were now 
occupied by actual settlers, and between the holders of the lands and the 
holders of the titles violent altercations arose. In these disputes the 
governor became a partisan of the speculators against the people, until 
the outraged assembly of 1635 passed a resolution that Sir John Harvey 
be thrust out of office, and Captain West be appointed in his place “ until 
the king’s pleasure may be known in this matter.” A majority of the 
councilors sided with the burgesses, and Harvey was obliged to go to 
England to stand his trial. 

5. King Charles treated the whole affair with contempt. The com¬ 
missioners appointed by the council of Virginia to conduct Harvey’s im¬ 
peachment were refused a hearing, and he was restored to the governor¬ 
ship of the unwilling colony. He continued in power until the year 
1639, when he was superseded by Wyatt, who ruled until the spring of 
1642. 

6. And now came the English Revolution. The exactions and tyranny 
of Charles at last drove his subjects into open rebellion. In January of 
1642, the king and his friends left London, and repairing to Nottingham, 
collected an army of royalists. The capital and southern part of the 
country remained in the power of Parliament. The High Church party 
and the adherents of monarchy took sides with the king, while the re¬ 
publicans and dissenters made up the opposing forces. The country was 
plunged into the horrors of civil war. After a few years of conflict the 
royal army was routed and dispersed ; the king escaped to Scotland, and 
the leading royalists fled to foreign lands. On the demand of Parliament 
Charles was given up and brought to trial. The cause was heard, a sen¬ 
tence of death was passed, and on the 30th of January, 1649, the unhappy 
monarch was beheaded. 

7. Monarchy was now abolished. Oliver Cromwell, the general of 
the Parliamentary army, was made Lord Protector of the Commonwealth 
of England. By him the destinies of the nation were controlled until 
his death, in 1658, when he was succeeded by his son Richard. But the 
latter, lacking his father’s abilities and courage, became alarmed at the 
dangers that gathered around him, and resigned. For a few months the 


78 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


country was in anarchy, until General Monk, who commanded the Eng¬ 
lish army of the North, came down from Scotland and declared a restora¬ 
tion of the monarchy. The exiled son of Charles I. was called home 
and proclaimed king, the people acquiesced, Parliament sanctioned the 
measure, and on the 18th of May, 1660, Charles II. was placed on the 
throne of England. 

8. These were times full of trouble. Virginia shared in some degree 
the distractions of the mother-country, yet the evil done to the new State 
by the conflict in England was less than might have been expected. In 
the first year of the civil war Sir William Berkeley became governor of 
the colony, and, with the exception of a brief visit to England in 1645, 
remained in office for ten years. His administration, notwithstanding the 
commotions abroad, was noted as a time of rapid growth and develop¬ 
ment. The laws were greatly improved and made conformable to the 
English statutes. The old controversies about the lands were satisfacto¬ 
rily settled. Cruel punishments were abolished and the taxes equalized. 
The general assembly was regularly convened to bear its part in the gov¬ 
ernment, and Virginia was in all essential particulars a free as well as a 
prosperous State. So rapid was the progress that in 1646 there were 
twenty thousand people in the colony. 

9. But there were also drawbacks to the prosperity of Virginia. Re¬ 
ligious intolerance came with its baleful shadow to disturb the State. The 
faith of the Episcopal Church was established by law, and dissenting was 
declared a crime. The Puritans were held in contempt by the people, 
who charged them with being the destroyers of the peace of England. 
In March of 1643 a statute was enacted by the assembly declaring that 
no person who disbelieved the doctrines of the English Church should be 
allowed to teach publicly or privately, or to preach the gospel, within the 
limits of Virginia. The few Puritans in the colony were excluded from 
their places of trust, and some were even driven from their homes. Gov¬ 
ernor Berkeley, himself a zealous churchman, was a leader in these per¬ 
secutions, by which all friendly relations with New England were broken 
off for many years. 

10. A worse calamity befell in a second war with the Indians. Early 
in 1644, the natives, having forgotten their former punishment, and. 
believing that in the confusion of the civil war there still remained a hope 
of destroying the English, planned a general massacre. On the 18th of 
April, at a time when the authorities were somewhat off their guard, the 
savages fell upon the frontier settlements, and before assistance could be 
brought murdered three hundred people. Alarmed at their own atrocity, 
the warriors then fled, but were followed by the English forces and 


VIRGINIA.—THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 


79 


driven into the woods and swamps. The aged Opechancanough was cap¬ 
tured, and died a prisoner. The tribes were chastised without mercy, and 
were soon glad to purchase peace by the cession of large tracts of land. 

11. The Virginians adhered with great firmness to the cause of Charles 
I. in his war with Parliament, and after his death proclaimed the exiled 
Charles II. as rightful sovereign of the country. Cromwell and the 
Parliament were much exasperated at this course of conduct, and mea¬ 
sures were at once devised to bring the polony to submission. An ordi¬ 
nance was passed laying heavy restrictions on the commerce of such 
English colonies as refused to acknowledge the supremacy of Parliament. 
All foreign ships, especially those of Holland, were forbidden to enter 
the colonial harbors. In 1651 the noted statute called the Navigation 
Act was passed, and the trade of the colonies was still more seriously 
distressed. In this new law it was enacted that the foreign commerce 
of Virginia, now grown into importance, should be carried on wholly in 
English vessels, and directed exclusively to English ports. 

12. The Virginians held out, and Cromwell determined to employ 
force. A war-vessel called the Guinea was sent into the Chesapeake to 
compel submission, but in the last extreme the Protector showed him¬ 
self to be just as well as wrathful. There were commissioners on board 
the frigate authorized to make an offer of peace, and this was gladly 
accepted. It was seen that the cause of the Stuarts was hopeless. The 
people of Virginia, although refusing to yield to threats and violence, 
cheerfully entered into negotiations with Cromwell’s delegates, and ended 
by acknowledging the supreme authority of Parliament. The terms of 
the settlement were very favorable to popular liberty; the commercial 
restrictions of the two previous years were removed, and the trade of the 
colony was made as free as that of England. No taxes might be levied 
or duties collected except such as were imposed by the general assembly 
of the State. The freedom of an Englishman was guaranteed to every 
citizen, and under the control of her own laws Virginia again grew pros¬ 
perous. 

13. No further difficulty arose during the continuance of the Common¬ 
wealth. The Protector was busied with the affairs of Europe, and had 
neither time nor disposition to interfere in the affairs of a remote colony. 
The Virginians were thus left free to conduct their government as they 
would. Even the important matter of choosing a governor was sub¬ 
mitted to an election in the House of Burgesses; when so great a power 
had been once exercised, it was not likely to be relinquished without a 
struggle. Three governors were chosen in this way, and what was at 
first only a privilege soon became a right. Special acts of the assembly 

6 


80 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


declared that such a right existed, and that it should be transmitted to 
posterity. 

34. In 1660, just at the time of the resignation of Richard Cromwell, 
Samuel Matthews, the last of the three elected governors, died. The 
burgesses were immediately convened, and an ordinance was passed de¬ 
claring that the supreme authority of Virginia was resident in the colony, 
and would continue there until a delegate with proper credentials should 
arrive from the British government. Having made this declaration, the 
house elected as governor Sir William Berkeley, who by accepting the 
office acknowledged the right of the burgesses to choose. The question 
of recognizing Charles II. as king was debated at the same session, but 
prudence suggested that the colonial authorities would better await the 
natural course of events. For the present it was decided to remain faith¬ 
ful to Parliament. Most of the people, no doubt, desired the restoration, 
but policy forbade any open expressions of such a preference. It would 
be time enough when monarchy was actually restored. 

15. In May of 1660 Charles II. became king of England. As soon 
as this event was known in Virginia, Governor Berkeley, forgetting the 
source of his OAvn authority, and in defiance of all consistency, issued writs 
in the name of the king for the election of a new assembly. The friends 
of royalty were delighted with the prospect. The adherents of the Com¬ 
monwealth were thrust out of office, and the favorites of the king estab¬ 
lished in their places. Great benefits were expected from the change, and 
the whole colony was alive with excitement and zeal. But the disap¬ 
pointment of the people was more bitter than their hopes had been extrav¬ 
agant. The Virginians soon found that they had exchanged a republican 
tyrant with good principles for a monarchial tyrant with bad ones. King 
Charles II. was the worst monarch of modern times, and the people of 
Virginia had in him and his government a special cause of grief. The 
commercial system of the Commonwealth, so far from being abolished, 
was re-enacted in a more hateful form than ever. The new statute pro¬ 
vided that all the colonial commerce, whether exports or imports, should 
be carried on in English ships, the trade between the colonies was bur¬ 
dened with a heavy tax for the benefit of the government, and tobacco, 
the staple of Virginia, could be sold noAvhere but in England. This 
odious measure gaA r e to English merchantmen a monopoly of the carry¬ 
ing trade of the colonies, and by destroying competition among the buy¬ 
ers of tobacco robbed the Virginians to that extent of their leading 
product. Remonstrance Avas tried in A 7 ain. The cold and selfish monarch 
only sneered at the complaints of his American subjects, and the commer¬ 
cial ordinances Avere rigorously enforced. 





VIRGINIA.—THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 


81 


16. Charles II. seemed to regard the British empire as personal property 
to be used for the benefit of himself and his courtiers. In order to reward 
the worthless profligates who thronged his court, he began to grant to them 
large tracts of land in Virginia. What did it matter that these lands had 
been redeemed from the wilderness and were covered with orchards and 
gardens ? It was no uncommon thing for an American planter to find that 
his farm, which had been cultivated for a quarter of a century, was given 
away to some dissolute flatterer of the royal household. Great distress 
was occasioned by these iniquitous grants, until finally, in 1673, the king 
set a limit to his own recklessness by giving away the whole State. Lord 
Culpepper and the earl of Arlington, two ignoble noblemen, received 
under the great seal a deed by which was granted to them for tldrty- 
one years all the dominion of land and water called Virginia. 

* 17. Unfortunately, the colonial legislation of these times became as 
selfish and narrow-minded as the policy of the king was mean An 
aristocratic party which had arisen in the colony obtained control of the 
House of Burgesses, and the new laws rivaled those of England in illiber- 
ality. Episcopalianisin was again established as the State religion. A 
proscriptive ordinance was passed against the Baptists, and the peace-lov¬ 
ing Quakers were fined, persecuted and imprisoned. Burdensome taxes 
were laid on personal property and polls; the holders of large estates were 
exempt and the poorer people afflicted. The salaries of the officers were 
secured by a permanent duty on tobacco, and, worst of all, the biennial 
election of burgesses was abolished, so that the members of the existing 
assembly continued indefinitely in power. For a while Berkeley and his 
council outdid the tyranny of England. 

18. And then came open resistance. The people were worn out with 
the governor's exactions, and availed themselves of the first pretext to 
assert their rights by force of arms. A war with the Susquehanna In¬ 
dians furnished the occasion for an insurrection. The tribes about the 
head of Chesapeake Bay and along the Susquehanna had been attacked by 
the Senecas and driven from their homes. They, in turn, fell upon the 
English settlers of Maryland, and the banks of the Potomac became the 
scene of a border war. Virginia and Maryland made common cause 
against the savages. John Washington, great-grandfather of the first 
president of the United States, led a company of militia into the enemy's 
country", and compelled the Susquehannas to sue for peace. Six of their 
chieftains went into Virginia as ambassadors, and, to the lasting dishonor 
of the colony, were foully murdered. This atrocity maddened the savages, 
and a devastating warfare raged along the whole frontier. 

19. Governor Berkeley, not without some show of justice, sided with 


82 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


the Indians. But the colonists remembered only the many acts of 
treachery and bloodshed of which the red men had before been guilty, 
and were determined to have revenge. In this division of sentiment 
among the people, the assembly and the aristocratic party took sides with 
the governor and favored a peace; while the popular party, disliking 
Berkeley and hating the Indians, resolved to overthrow him and destroy 
them at one blow. A leader was found in that remarkable man, Nathaniel 
Bacon. Young, brave, eloquent, patriotic, full of enthusiasm and energy, 
he became the soul and life of the popular party. His own farm in the 
county of Henrico had been pillaged and his tenants murdered by the 
savages. Exasperated by these injuries, he was the more easily urged by 
the public voice to accept the dangerous office of leading an insurrection. 

20. Five hundred men rushed to arms and demanded to be led against * 
the Indians. Alarm, excitement and passion prevailed throughout the 
colony. The patriot forces were organized; and without permission of a 
government which they had ceased to regard, the march was begun into 
the enemy’s country. Berkeley and the aristocratic faction were enraged 
at this proceeding, and proclaimed Bacon a traitor. A levy of troops was 
made for the purpose of dispersing the rebellious militia; but scarcely had 
Berkeley and his forces left Jamestown when another popular uprising in 
the lower counties compelled him to return. Affairs were in an uproar. 
Bacon came home victorious. The old assembly was unceremoniously 
broken up, and a new one elected on the basis of universal suffrage. 
Bacon was chosen a member for Henrico, and soon after elected com- 
mander-in-chiei of the Virginia army. Tne governor refused to sign his 
commission, and Bacon appealed to the people; the militia again flew to 
arms, and Berkeley was compelled to yield. Not only was the com¬ 
mission signed, but a paper drawn up by the burgesses in commendation 
of Bacon’s loyalty, zeal and patriotism received the executive signature 
and was transmitted to Parliament. 

21. Peace returned to the colony. The power of the savages was com¬ 
pletely broken. A military force was stationed on the frontier, and a 
sense of security returned to all the settlements. But Berkeley was petu¬ 
lant, proud and vengeful; and it was only a question of time when the 
struggle would be renewed. Seizing the first opportunity, the governor 
left Jamestown and repaired to the county of Gloucester, on the north 
side of York River. Here he summoned a convention of loyalists, who, 
contrary to his expectations and wishes, advised moderation and com¬ 
promise ; but the hot-headed old cavalier would yield no jot of his pre¬ 
rogative to what he was pleased to call a rabole, and Bacon was again 
proclaimed a traitor. 


VIRGINIA.—THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 


83 


22. It was evident that there must be fighting. Berkeley and his 
forces left Gloucester, crossed the Chesapeake Bay, and took station on 
the eastern shore, in the county of Accomac. Here his troops were 
organized; the crews of some English ships were joined to his command, 
and the fleet set sail for Jamestown. The place was taken without much 
resistance; but when Bacon with a few companies of patriots drew near, 
the loyal forces deserted and went over to his standard. The governor 
with his adherents was again obliged to fly, and the capital remained in 
possession of the people’s party. The assembly was about to assume con¬ 
trol of the government without the governor, whose flight to Accomac 
had been declared an abdication, when a rumor arose that an English fleet 
was approaching for the subjugation of the colonies. The patriot leaders 
held a council, and it was determined that Jamestown should be burned. 
Accordingly, in the dusk of the evening the torch was applied, and the 
only town in Virginia laid in ashes. The leading men set the example 
by throwing firebrands into their own houses; others caught the spirit of 
sacrifice; the flames shot up through the shadows of night; and Governor 
Berkeley and his followers, on board a fleet twenty miles down the river, 

' had tolerably fair warning that the capital of Virginia could not be used 
for the purposes of despotism. 

23. In this juncture of affairs Bacon fell sick and died. It was an 
event full of grief and disaster. The patriot party, discouraged by the 
loss of the heroic chieftain, was easily dispersed. A few feeble efforts 
were made to revive the cause of the people, but the animating spirit 
which had controlled and directed until now was gone. The royalists 
found an able leader in Robert Beverly, and the authority of the governor 
was rapidly restored throughout the province. The cause of the people 
and the leader of the people had died together. 

24. Berkeley’s vindictive passions were now let loose upon the defeated 
insurgents. Fines and confiscations became the order of the day. The 
governor seemed determined to drown the memory of his own wrongs in 
the woes of his subjects. Twenty-two of the leading patriots were seized 
and hanged with scarcely time to bid their friends farewell. Thus died 
Thomas Hansford, the first American who gave his life for freedom. 
Thus perished Edmund Cheesman, Thomas Wilford and the noble Wil¬ 
liam Drummond, martyrs to liberty. Nor is it certain when the vengeful 
tyrant would have stayed his hand, had not the assembly met and passed 
an edict that no more blood should be spilt for past offences. One of the 
burgesses from the county of Northampton said in the debate that if the 
governor were let alone he would hang half the country. When Charles 
II. heard of Berkeley’s ferocity, he exclaimed, “ The old fool has taken 


84 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


away more lives in that naked country than I for the murder of my 
father”; and the saying was true. 

25. The history of this insurrection was for a long time recited by 
Bacon’s enemies. Until the present century no one appeared to rescue 
the leader’s name from obloquy. In the light of after times his character 
will shine with a peculiar lustre. His motives were as exalted as his life 
was pure, and his virtues as noted as his abilities were great. His ambi¬ 
tion was for the public welfare, and his passions were only excited against 
the enemies of his country. 

26. The consequences of the rebellion were very disastrous. Berkeley 
and the aristocratic party had now a good excuse for suppressing all liberal 
sentiments and tendencies. The printing-press was interdicted. Educa¬ 
tion was discouraged or forbidden. To speak or to write anything against 
the administration or in defence of the late insurrection was made a crime 
to be punished by fine or whipping. If the offence should be three times 
repeated, it was declared to be treason punishable with death. The former 
tyrannical methods of taxation were revived, and Virginia was left at the 
mercy of arbitrary rulers. 

27. In 1675, Lord Culpepper, to whom with Arlington the province 
had been granted two years previously, obtained the appointment of 
governor for life. The right of the king was thus by his own act relin¬ 
quished, and Virginia became a proprietary government. The new execu¬ 
tive arrived in 1680 and assumed the duties of his office. His whole 
administration was characterized by avarice and dishonesty. Regarding 
Virginia as his personal estate, he treated the Virginians as his tenants 
and slaves. Every species of extortion was resorted to, until the mutter- 
ings of rebellion were again heard throughout the impoverished colony. 
In 1683, Arlington surrendered his claim to Culpepper, who thus became 
sole proprietor as well as governor; but before he could proceed to further 
mischief, his official career was cut short by the act of the king. Charles 
II., repenting of his own rashness, found in Culpepper’s vices and frauds 
a sufficient excuse to remove him from office and to revoke his patent. 
In 1684, Virginia again became a royal province, under the government 
of Lord Howard, of Effingham, who continued in office until near the 
close of the century. The affairs of the colony during the next fifty years 
are not of sufficient interest and importance to require mention in an 
abridgment of American history. At the outbreak of the French and 
Indian War, Virginia will show to the world that the labors of Smith, 
and Gosnold, and Bacon have not been in vain. 


RECA PI TULA TION. 


85 


RECAPITULATION. 


CHAPTER I. 

The progress of Virginia is hindered.—First settlers are of bad character.—Necessity 
drives them to labor. The king gives sealed instructions.—Smith is arrested.—And ex¬ 
cluded from the council. He and Newport explore the James.—Return to Jamestown. 
-'—Newport goes to England.—The colonists are discouraged.—Disease ravages the settle¬ 
ment. Gosnold dies. Wingfield embezzles the funds.—And is removed from office.— 
Ratclifle succeeds.—And is also impeached.—Smith takes control of the colony.—Sketch 
of his life.—The settlement flourishes under his care.—He explores the country, and pro¬ 
cures supplies.—The Indians furnish provisions.—Smith explores the Chickahominy.—■ 
Is captured by the Indians.—Saves his life by stratagem.—Is carried to Orapax.—Thence 
to Pamunkey. Is condemned to death.—And saved by Pocahontas.—He remains in. 
Powhatan’s household.—Is liberated.—Returns to Jamestown—Terrifies the savages.— 
Deplorable condition of the settlement.—Plot to abandon the place.—Newport arrives 
with new immigrants.—Who are as bad as the others.—The gold-hunters go abroad.— 
And find mica in the sand of James River.—A ship is loaded with dirt and sent to Eng¬ 
land.—The planting season goes by.—Smith makes his great exploration of the Chesa¬ 
peake.—And maps the country.—Returns.—Is elected president.—Newport arrives with 
more immigrants and supplies.—Progress of the colony. 

CHAPTER II. 

King James grants a new charter.—Changes are made in the form of government.—A 
new council is organized.—Delaware is chosen governor.—The other officers.—A fleet 
with five hundred emigrants sails for America.—Encounters a storm.—Two vessels are 
wrecked.—Seven ships reach Jamestown.—The commissioners are left on the Bermuda 
Islands.—Smith retains the presidency.—New . settlements are projected.—Smith is 
wounded.—Delegates his authority to Percy.—Returns to England.—Colony suffers after 
his departure.—The starving time.—Gates and his companions reach Virginia.—The 
settlement is abandoned.—Delaware meets the colony.—And persuades them to return.— 
Prosperity begins.—But Delaware falls sick.—And returns to England.—Percy is deputy. 
—Dale arrives as governor.—Brings immigrants.—Writes for supplies and new colo¬ 
nists.—Who arrive.—The colony improves.—Gates is made governor.—The right of 
private property is recognized.—And the settlements enlarged. 

CHAPTER iii. 

The London Company receive a third patent.—The colony had proved unprofitable.— 
Argali kidnaps Pocahontas.—Who is married to Rolfe.—They visit England.—And 
leave descendants in Virginia.—Argali destroys the French settlements in Acadia.— 
And reduces the Dutch colony of Manhattan.—Dale becomes governor of Virginia.— 
Tobacco is the staple of Jamestown.—And is used for money.—Argali is chosen gov- 



86 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


ernor.—Delaware sails for America.—And dies.—Yeardley supersedes Argali.—Abolishes 
martial law.—Establishes the House of Burgesses.—Slavery is introduced.—Society is 
low.—Women are sent over.—And married to the colonists.—A constitution is granted. 
—Wyatt becomes governor.—Settlements spread abroad.—The Indians become jealous. 
—And massacre the people.—But are defeated.—The company is opposed by the king.— 
A commission is appointed.—Who report against the company.—And its charter is re- 
voked.—But liberty is planted in Virginia. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Royal government is established.—But the administration is unchanged.—Charles I. 
becomes king.—Recognizes the Virginia Assembly.—Yeardley is re-elected governor.— 
Dies.—West is chosen by the council.—Harvey arrives from England.—Land-grants vex 
the people.—Harvey is impeached.—But is sustained by the king.—Wyatt succeeds.— 
English Revolution breaks out.—King Charles is beheaded.—Monarchy is abolished.— 
Cromwell becomes Protector.—Virginia inclines to royalty.—Berkeley becomes governor. 
—The Puritans are persecuted.—An Indian war arises.—The savages are beaten.—Vir¬ 
ginia refuses to acknowledge Parliament.—Cromwell restricts her commerce.—Sends a 
fleet to America.—And the Virginians submit.—Favorable terms are granted.—Peace 
continues during the commonwealth.—The Burgesses elect three governors.—Berkeley 
is thus chosen.—Accepts.—But at the Restoration renounces his acceptance.—And issues 
writs in the king’s name.—Tyranny follows.—Commerce is restricted.—The Virginians 
complain.—In vain.—Charles II. gives away Virginia lands.—And finally the whole 
State to Arlington and Culpepper.—The Quakers and the Baptists are persecuted.—Taxes 
are odious.—The people rebel.—An Indian war is the excuse.—And Berkeley’s tyranny 
the cause.—Bacon heads the insurrection.—The Indians are punished.—Berkeley abdi¬ 
cates.—Returns.—Captures Jamestown.—Bacon takes the place, and burns it.—Dies.— 
The patriots are dispersed.—And the leaders hanged.—A worse despotism is established. 
*—Culpepper becomes governor.—Treats Virginia as an estate.—Arlington surrenders 
his claim.—The king recalls the grant.—And Virginia becomes a royal province. 


COLONIAL HISTORY. —Continued. 


A. D. 1620—1754. 

NEW ENGLAND. 

CHAPTER I. 

MA SSA CH U SETTS. 

T HE spring of 1621 brought a ray of hope to the distressed Pilgrims 
of New Plymouth. Never was the returning sun more welcome. 
The fatal winter had swept off one-half of the number. The son of the 
benevolent Carver was among the first victims of the terrible climate. 
The governor himself sickened and died, and the broken-hearted wife 
found rest in the same grave with her husband. But now, with the ap¬ 
proach of warm weather, the destroying pestilence was stayed, and the 
spirits of the survivors revived with the season. Out of the snows of 
winter, the desolations of disease, and the terrors of death the faith of the 
Puritan had come forth triumphant. 

2. For a while the colonists were apprehensive of the Indians. In 
February, Miles Standish was sent out with his soldiers to gather in¬ 
formation of the numbers and disposition of the natives. The army of 
New England consisted of six men besides the general. Deserted wig¬ 
wams were found here and there; the smoke of camp-fires arose in the 
distance; savages were occasionally seen in the forest. These fled, how¬ 
ever, at the approach of the English, and Standish returned to Plymouth. 

3. A month later the colonists were astonished by the sudden appear¬ 
ance in their midst of a Wampanoag Indian named Samoset. He ran 
into the village, offered his hand in token of friendship, and bade the 
strangers welcome. He gave an account of the numbers and strength of 
the neighboring tribes, and recited the story of a great plague by which, 
a few years before, the country had been swept of its inhabitants. The 
present feebleness and desolate condition of the natives had resulted from 
the fatal malady. Another Indian, by the name of Squanto, who had 
been carried away by Hunt in 1614, and had learned to speak English, 
came also to Plymouth, and confirmed what Samoset had said. 


87 



88 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



war, Massasoit should help them; if the Wampanoags were attacked un¬ 
justly, the English should give aid against the common enemy. Mark 
that word unjustly: it contains the essence of Puritanism. 

5. The treaty thus made and ratified remained inviolate for fifty years. 
Other chiefs followed the example of the great sachem and entered into 
friendly relations with the colony. Nine of the leading tribes acknow¬ 
ledged the sovereignty of the English king. One chieftain threatened 
hostilities, but Stand islfs army obliged him to beg for mercy. Canonicus, 
king of the Narragansetts, sent to William Bradford, who had been chosen 
governor after the death of Carver, a bundle of arrows wrapped in the 
skin of a rattlesnake; but the undaunted governor stuffed the skin with 


4. By the influence of these two natives friendly relations were at once 
established with the Wampanoags. Massasoit, the great sachem of the 
nation, was invited to visit the settlement, and came attended by a few 
of his warriors. The Pilgrims received him with as much parade and 
ceremony as the colony could provide; Captain Standish ordered out his 
soldiers, and Squanto acted as interpreter. Then and there was ratified 
the first treaty made in New England. The terms were few and simple. 
There should be peace and friendship between the whites and the red 
men. No injury should be done by either party to the other. All 
offenders should be given up to be punished. If the English engaged in 


THE TREATY BETWEEN GOVERNOR CARVER AND MASSASOIT. 
















MASSACHUSETTS. 


89 


powder and balls and sent it back to the chief, who did not dare to accept 
the dangerous challenge. The hostile emblem was borne about from tribe 
to tribe, until finally it was returned to Plymouth. 

6. The summer of 1621 was unfruitful, and the Pilgrims were brought 
to the point of starvation. To make their condition still more grievous, 
a new company of immigrants, without provisions or stores, arrived, and 
were quartered on the colonists during the fall and winter. For six 
months together the settlers were obliged to subsist on half allowance. 
At one time only a few grains of parched corn remained to be distributed, 
and at another there was absolute destitution. In this state of affairs some 
English fishing-vessels came to Plymouth and charged the starving colo¬ 
nists two prices for food enough to keep them alive. 

7. The intruding immigrants just mentioned had been sent to America 
by Thomas Weston, of London, one of the projectors of the colony. They 
remained with the people of Plymouth until the summer of 1622, then 
removed to the south side of Boston Harbor and began a new settlement 
called Weymouth. Instead of working with their might to provide 
against starvation, they wasted the fall in idleness, and attempted to keep 
up their stock of provisions by defrauding the Indians. Thus provoked 
to hostility, the natives formed a plan to destroy the colony; but Massa- 
soit, faithful to his pledges, went to Plymouth and revealed the plot. 
Standish marched to Weymouth at the head of his regiment, now in¬ 
creased to eight men, attacked the hostile tribe, killed several warriors 
and carried home the chief’s head on a pole. The tender-hearted John 
Robinson wrote from Leyden: “ I would that you had converted some 
of them before you killed any.” 

8. In the following spring most of the Weymouth settlers abandoned 
the place and returned to England. The summer of 1623 brought a 
plentiful harvest to the people of the older colony, and there was no 
longer any danger of starvation. The natives, preferring the chase, be¬ 
came dependent on the settlement for corn, and furnished in exchange an 
abundance of game. The main body of Pilgrims still tarried at Leyden 
Robinson made unwearied efforts to bring his people to America, but the 
adventurers of London who had managed the enterprise would provide 
no further means either of money or transportation; and now, at the end 
of the fourth year, there were only a hundred and eighty persons in New 
England. The managers had expected profitable returns, and were dis¬ 
appointed. They had expended thirty-four thousand dollars; there 
was neither profit nor the hope of any. Under this discouragement the 
proprietors made a proposition to sell out their claims to the colonists. 
The offer was accepted; and in November of 1627 eight of the leading 


90 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


men of Plymouth purchased from the Londoners their entire interest for 
the sum of nine thousand dollars. 

9. Before this transfer of right was made the colony had been much 
vexed by the efforts of the managers to thrust on them a minister of the 
Established Church. Was it not to avoid this very thing that they had 
come to the wilds of the New World? Should the tyranny of the prelates 
follow them even across the sea and into the wilderness ? There was dis¬ 
sension and strife for a while; the English managers withheld support; 
oppression was resorted to; the stores intended for the colonists were 
sold to them at three prices; and they were obliged to borrow money at 
sixty per cent. But no exactions could break the spirit of the Pilgrims; 
and the conflict ended with the purchase of whatever rights the London 
proprietors had in the colony. 

10. The year 1624 was marked by the founding of a settlement at 
Cape Ann. John White, a Puritan minister of Dorchester, England, 
collected a small company of emigrants and sent them to America. The 
colony w r as established, but after two years of discouragement the cape 
was abandoned as a place unsuitable, and the company moved farther 
south to Naumkeag, aftenvard called Salem. Here a settlement was 
begun, and in 1628 was made permanent by the arrival of a second colony, 
in charge of John Endicott, who was chosen governor. In March of the 
same year the colonists obtained a patent from the Council of Plymouth; 
and in 1629 Charles I. issued a charter by which the proprietors were 
incorporated under the name of The Governor and Company of 
Massachusetts Bay in New England. In July two hundred ad¬ 
ditional immigrants arrived, half of whom settled at Plymouth, while the 
other half removed to a peninsula on the north side of Boston Harbor 
and laid the foundation of Charlestown. 

11. At the first it had been decided that the charter of the colony 
should be left in England, and that the governor should reside there also. 
After further discussion, this decision was reversed, and in September it 
was decreed that the whole government should be transferred to America, 
and that the charter, as a pledge of liberty, should be entrusted to the 
colonists themselves. As soon as this liberal action was made known 
emigration began on an extensive scale. In the year 1630 about three 
hundred of the best Puritan families in the kingdom came to New Eng¬ 
land. Not adventurers, not vagabonds, were these brave people, but vir¬ 
tuous, well-educated, courageous men and women who for conscience , 
sake left comfortable homes with no expectation of returning. It was not 
the least of their good fortune to choose a noble leader. 

12. If ever a man was worthy to be held in perpetual remembrance, 





MASS A CHUSETTS. 


91 



that mail was John Winthrop, governor of Massachusetts. Born a royalist, 
he cherished the principles of republicanism. Himself an Episcopalian, 
li 2 chose affliction 

with the Puritans. 

Surrounded with 
affluence and com¬ 
fort, he left all to 
share the destiny 
of the persecuted 
Pilgrims. Calm, 
prudent and peace¬ 
able, he joined the 
zeal of an enthusi¬ 
ast with the sub¬ 
lime faith of a 
martyr. 

13. A part of 
the new immi¬ 
grants settled at 
Salem; other’s at 
Cambridge and 
Watertown, on 
Charles River; 
while others, going 

n ,1 , i JOHN WINTHROP. 

farther south, 

founded Roxbury and Dorchester. The governor, with a few of the 
leading families, resided for a while at Charlestown, but soon crossed 
the harbor to the peninsula of Shawmut and laid the foundation of Bos¬ 
ton, which became henceforth the capital of the colony and the metropolis 
of New England. With the approach of winter sickness came, and the 
distress was very great. Many of the new-comers were refined and ten¬ 
der people who could not endure the bitter blasts of Massachusetts Bay. 
Coarse fare and scanty provisions added to the griefs of disease. Sleet 
and snow drifted through the cracks of the thin board huts where en¬ 
feebled men and delicate women moaned out their lives. Before mid¬ 
winter two hundred had perished. A few others, heartsick and despair¬ 
ing, returned to England; but there was heard neither murmur nor 
repining. Governor Winthrop wrote to his wife: “ I like so well to be 
here that I do not repent my coming.” 

14. At a session of the general court of the colony, held in 1631, a law 
was passed restricting the right of suffrage. It was enacted that none but 


92 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


members of the church should be permitted to vote at the colonial elec¬ 
tions. The choice of governor, deputy-governor and assistant councilors 
was thus placed in the hands of a small minority. Nearly three-fourths 
of the people were excluded from exercising the rights of freemen. Taxes 
were levied for the support of the gospel; oaths of obedience to the magis¬ 
trates were required ; attendance on public worship was enforced by law; 
none but church-members were eligible to offices of trust. It is strange 
indeed that the very men who had so lecently, through perils by sea and 
land, escaped with only their lives to find religious freedom in another 
continent, should have begun their career with intolerance and proscrip¬ 
tion. The only excuse that can be found for the gross inconsistency and 
injustice of such legislation is that bigotry was the vice of the age rather 
than of the Puritans. 

15. One manly voice was lifted up against this odious statute. It was 
the voice of young Roger Williams, minister of Salem. To this man 
belongs the shining honor of being first in America or in Europe to pro¬ 
claim the full gospel of religious toleration. He declared to his people 
that the conscience of man may in no wise be bound by the authority of 
the magistrate; that civil government has only to do with civil matters, 
such as the collection of taxes, the restraint and punishment of crime, 
and the protection of all men in the enjoyment of equal rights. For 
these noble utterances he was obliged to quit the ministry of the church 
at Salem and retire to Plymouth. Finally, in 1634, he wrote a paper in 
which the declaration was made that grants of land, though given by the 
king of England, were invalid until the natives were justly recompensed. 
This was equivalent to saying that the colonial charter itself was void, and 
that the people were really living upon the lands of the Indians. Great 
excitement was occasioned by the publication, and Williams consented 
that for the sake of public peace the paper should be burned. But he 
continued to teach his doctrines, saying that compulsory attendance at re¬ 
ligious worship, as well as taxation for the support of the ministry, was 
contrary to the teachings of the gospel. When arraigned for these bad 
doctrines, he crowned his offences by telling the court that a test of 
church-membership in a voter or a public officer was as ridiculous as the 
selection of a doctor of physic or the pilot of a ship on account of his skill 
in theology. 

16. These assertions raised such a storm in court that Williams was 
condemned for heresy and banished from the colony. In the dead of 
winter he left home and became an exile in the desolate forest. For four¬ 
teen weeks he wandered on through the snow, sleeping at night on the 
ground or in a hollow tree, living on parched corn, acorns and roots. He 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


93 



Canonicus, king of the Narragansetts, received him as a friend and 
brother. On the left bank of Blaekstone River, near the head of Narra- 
gansett Bay, a resting-place was at last found; the exile pitched his tent, 
and with the opening of spring planted a field and built the first house in 
the village of Seekonk. Soon the information came that he was still 
within the territory of Plymouth colony, and another removal became 
necessary. With five companions who had joined him in banishment, 
he embarked in a canoe, passed down the river and crossed to the west 
side of the bay. Here he was safe; his enemies could hunt him no 
farther. A tract of land was honorably purchased from Canonicus; and 
in June of 1636, the illustrious founder of Rhode Island laid out the city 
of Providence. 

17. Meanwhile, his teachings were bearing fruit in Massachusetts. In 
1634 a representative form of government was established against the 
opposition of the clergy. On election-day the voters, now numbering 
between three and four hundred, were called together, and the learned 


carried with him one precious treasure—a private letter from Governor 
Winthrop, giving him words of cheer and encouragement. Nor did the 
Indians fail to show their gratitude to the man who had so nobly de¬ 
fended their rights. In the country of the Wampanoags he was kindly 
entertained. Massasoit invited him to his cabin at Pokanoket, and 


kugeu Williams BUtni-noa by the Indians. 


94 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Cotton preached powerfully and long against the proposed change. The 
assembly listened attentively, and then went on with the election. To 
make the reform complete, a ballot-box was substituted for the old 
method of public voting. The restriction on the right of suffrage was 
the only remaining bar to a perfect system of self-government in New 
England. 

18. During the next year three thousand new immigrants arrived. It 
was worth while—so thought the people of England—to come to a country 
where the principles of freedom were spreading with such rapidity. The 
new-comers were under the leadership of Hugh Peters and Sir Henry 
Vane; the former the Puritan pastor of some English exiles at Rotter¬ 
dam, in Holland, and the latter a young nobleman who afterward played 
an important part in the history of England. Such was his popularity 
with the people of Massachusetts, and such his zeal and piety, that in less 
than a year after his arrival he was chosen governor of the colony. 

19. By this time the settlements around Massachusetts Bay were 
thickly clustered. Until new homes should be found there was no room 
for the immigrants who were constantly coming. To enlarge the frontier, 
to plunge into the wilderness and find new places of abode, became a 
necessity. One little company of twelve families, led by Simon Willard 
and Peter Bulkeley, marched through the woods until they came to some 
open meadows sixteen miles from Boston, and there laid the foundations 
of Concord. A little later in the same year, another colony of sixty per¬ 
sons left the older settlements and pressed their way westward as far as 
the Connecticut River. The march itself was a grievous hardship, but 
greater toils and sufferings were in store for the adventurous company. 
A dreadful winter overtook them in their new homes but half provided. 
Some died; others, disheartened, waded back through the dreary untrod¬ 
den snows and came half famished to Plymouth and Boston; but the 
rest, with true Puritan heroism, outbraved the winter and triumphed over 
the pangs of starvation. Spring brought a recompense for hardship: the 
heroic pioneers crept out of their miserable huts to become the founders 
of Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield, the oldest towns in the Con¬ 
necticut valley. 

20. The banishment of Roger Williams, instead of bringing peace, 
brought strife and dissension to the people of Massachusetts. The minis¬ 
ters were stern and exacting. Every shade of popular belief was closely 
scrutinized; the slightest departure from orthodox doctrines was met 
with a charge of heresy, and to be a heretic was to become an outcast. 
Still, the advocates of free opinion multiplied. The clergy, notwithstand¬ 
ing their great influence among the people, felt insecure. Religious de^ 


95 


MASS A CHUSETTS. 



bates became the order of the day. Every sermon had to pass the ordeal 
of review and criticism. 

21. Most prominent among those who were said to be “ as bad as 
Roger Williams, or worse,” was Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, a woman of 
genius who had come over in the ship with Sir Henry Vane. She de¬ 
sired the privilege of speaking at the weekly debates, and was refused. 
Women had no business at these assemblies, said the elders. Indignant 
at this, she became the champion of her sex, and declared that the minis¬ 
ters who were defrauding women of the gospel were no better than Phari¬ 
sees. She called meetings of her friends, spoke much in public, and 
pleaded with great fervor for the full freedom of conscience. The liberal 
doctrines of the exiled Williams were reaffirmed with more power and 
eloquence than ever. Many of the magistrates were converted to the new 
beliefs; the governor himself espoused the cause of Mrs. Hutchinson; 
and a majority of the people of Boston inclined to her opinions. 

22. For a while there was a reign of discord; but as soon as Sir 
Henry’s term of office expired a call was issued for a meeting of the 

synod of New England. The body convened in August of 1637; a 
7 
















96 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


decree was proposed; Mrs. Hutchinson and her friends were declared 
unfit for the society of Christians, and banished from the territory of 
Massachusetts. With a large number of friends the exiles wended their 
way toward the home of Roger Williams. Miantonomoh, a Narragansett 
chieftain, made them a gift of the beautiful island of Rhode Island; 
there, in the month of March, 1641, a little republic was established, in 
whose constitution freedom of conscience was guaranteed and persecution 
for opinion’s sake forbidden. 

23. The year 1636 was an important epoch in the history of Massa¬ 
chusetts. The general court of the colony passed an act appropriating 
between one and two thousand dollars to found and endow a college. 
The measure met with popular favor; the Puritans were an educated 
people, and were quick to appreciate the advantages of learning. New¬ 
town was selected as the site of the proposed school. Plymouth and 
Salem gave gifts to help the enterprise; and from villages in the Con¬ 
necticut valley came contributions of corn and wampum. In 1638, John 
Harvard, a young minister of Charlestown, died, bequeathing his library 
and nearly five thousand dollars to the school. To perpetuate the memory 
of the noble benefactor the new institution was named Harvard Col¬ 
lege ; and in honor of the place where the leading men of Massachusetts 
had been educated, the name of Newtown was changed to Cambridge. 
Thus early did the people of New England stamp their approval on the 
cause of education. In spite of sterile soil and desolate landscapes— 
in spite of destroying climate and wasting diseases—in spite even of 
superstition and bigotry—the people who educate will ever be great 
and free. 

24. The printing-press came also. In 1638, Stephen Dave, an 
English printer, arrived at Boston, bringing a font of types, and in the 
following year set up a press at Cambridge. The first American publica¬ 
tion was an almanac calculated for New-England, and bearing date of 
1639. During the next year, Thomas Welde and John Eliot, two minis¬ 
ters of Roxbury, and Richard Mather, of Dorchester, translated the 
Hebrew Psalms into English verse, and published their rude work in 
a volume of three hundred pages—the first book printed on this side 
of the Atlantic. 

25. The rapid growth of Massachusetts now became a source of alarm 
to the English government. Those liberal principles of religion and 
politics which were openly avowed and gloried in by the citizens of the 
new commonwealth were hateful to Charles I. and his ministers. The 
archbishop of Canterbury was much offended. Something must be 
done to check the further growth of the Puritan colonies. The first 


MASSACHUSETTS.—THE UNION. 


97 


measure which suggested itself was to stop emigration. For this purpose 
an edict was issued as early as 1634, but was of no effect. The officers 
of the government neglected to enforce the law. Four years later, more 
vigorous measures were adopted. A squadron of ’eight vessels, ready to 
sail from London, was detained by the royal authority. Many of the 
most prominent Puritan families in England were on board of these 
ships. Historians of high rank have asserted—but without sufficient 
proof—that John Hampden and Oliver Cromwell were of the number 
who were turned back by the detention. At all events, it would have 
been the part of wisdom in King Charles to allow all Puritans to leave 
his realm as fast as possible. By detaining them in England he only 
made sure the Involution, and by so much hastened his own downfall. 


CHAPTER II. 

MASS A CHUSETTS.— THE UNION. 

1VTEW ENGLAND was fast becoming a nation. Wellnigh fifty towns 
-Li and villages dotted the face of the country. Nearly a million of 
dollars had been spent in settling and developing the new State. Enter¬ 
prises of all kinds were rife. Manufactures, commerce and the arts were 
rapidly introduced. William Stephens, a shipbuilder who came with 
Governor Winthrop to Boston, had already built and launched an Ameri¬ 
can vessel of four hundred tons burden. Before 1640, two hundred and 
ninety-eight emigrant ships had anchored in Massachusetts Bay. Twenty- 
one thousand two hundred people, escaping from English intolerance of 
Church or State, had found home and rest between Plymouth Rock, and 
the Connecticut valley. It is not wonderful that the colonists began to 
cast about them for better political organization and more ample forms 
of government. 

2. Many circumstances impelled the colonies to union. First of all, 
there was the natural desire of men to have a regular and permanent 
government. England, torn and distracted with civil war, could do 
nothing for or against her colonies; they must take care of themselves. 
Here was the western frontier exposed to the hostilities of the Dutch 
towns on the Hudson; Connecticut alone could not defend herself. 
Similar trouble was apprehended from the French on the north; the 



98 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


English settlements on the Piscataqua were weak and defenceless. In¬ 
dian tribes capable of mustering a thousand warriors were likely at any 
hour to fall upon remote and helpless villages; the prevalence of common 
interests and the necessities of common defence made a union of some sort 
indispensable. 

3. The first effort to consolidate the colonies was ineffectual. Two 
years later, in 1639, the project was renewed, but without success. 
Again, in 1643, a measure of union was brought forward and finally 
adopted. By the terms of this compact, Massachusetts, Plymouth, Con¬ 
necticut and New Haven were joined in a loose confederacy, called The 
United Colonies of New England. The chief authority was con¬ 
ferred upon a general assembly, or congress, composed of two representa¬ 
tives from each colony. These delegates were chosen annually at an 
election where all the freemen voted by ballot. There was no president 
other than the speaker of the assembly, and he had no executive powers. 
Each community retained, as before, its separate local existence; and all 
subordinate questions of legislation were reserved to the respective colo¬ 
nies. Only matters of general interest—such as Indian affairs, the levy¬ 
ing of troops, the raising of revenues, declarations of war and treaties of 
peace—were submitted to the assembly. 

4. Provision was made for the admission of other colonies into the 
union, but none were ever admitted. The English settlement on the 
Piscataqua was rejected because of heterodoxy in religion. The Provi¬ 
dence Plantations were refused for similar reasons. Should Roger Wil¬ 
liams return to plague an assembly where an approved church-member¬ 
ship was the sole qualification for office? The little island of Rhode 
Island, with its Jewish republic, also knocked for admission; Anne 
Hutchinson’s commonwealth was informed jhat Plymouth colony had 
rightful jurisdiction there, and that heresy was a bar to all petitions. 

5. Until the year 1641 the people of Massachusetts had had no regular 
code of laws. At a meeting of the assembly in December of this year, 
Nathaniel Ward brought forward a written instrument which, after ma¬ 
ture deliberation, was adopted as the constitution of the State. This 
fundamental statute was called the Body of Liberties, and was ever 
afterward esteemed as the great charter of colonial freedom. It may be 
doubted whether any other primitive constitution, either ancient or 
modern, contains more wisdom than this early code of Massachusetts. 

6. A further modification in the government was effected in 1644. 
Until this time the representatives of the people had sat and voted in the 
same hall with the governor and his assistant magistrates. It was now 
decreed that the two bodies should sit apart, each with its own officers 


MASSACHUSETTS.—THE UNION. 


99 


and under its own management. By this measure the people’s branch of* 
the legislature was made independent and of equal authority with the 
governor’s council. Thus step by step were the safeguards of liberty 
established and regular forms of government secured. 

7. The people of Massachusetts were little grieved on account of the 
English Revolution. It was for them a vindication and a victory. The 
triumph of Parliament over King Charles was the triumph of Puritanism 
both in England and America. Massachusetts had no cause to fear so 
long as the House of Commons was crowded with her friends and patrons. 
But in the hour of victory the American Puritans showed themselves 
more magnanimous than those of the mother-country; when Charles I., 
the enemy of all colonial liberties, was brought to the block, the people 
of New England, whose fathers had been exiled by his father, lamented 
his tragic fate and preserved the memory of his virtues. 

8. During the supremacy of the Long Parliament several acts were 
passed which put in peril the interests of Massachusetts, but by a prudent 
and far-sighted policy all evil results were avoided. Powerful friends, 
especially Sir Henry Vane, stood up in Parliament and defended the 
colony against the intrigues of her enemies. Ambassadors, men of age 
and experience, went often to London to plead for colonial rights. Soon 
after the abolition of monarchy a statute was made which threatened for 
a while the complete subversion of the new State. Massachusetts was in¬ 
vited to surrender her charter, to receive a new instrument instead, and 
to hold courts and issue writs in the name of Parliament. The measure 
seemed fair enough, but the people of New England were too cautious to 
stake their all on the fate of a Parliament whose power was already 
waning. The requisition was never complied with. Cromwell did not 
insist on the surrender; no one else had power to enforce the act; and 
Massachusetts retained her charter. 

9. The Protector was the constant friend of the American colonies. 
Even Virginia, though slighting his authority, found him just as well as 
severe. The people of New England were his special favorites. To them 
he was bound by every tie of political and religious sympathy. For more 
than ten years, when he might have been an oppressor, he continued the 
benefactor, of the English in America. During his administration the 
northern colonies were left in the full enjoyment of their coveted rights. 
In commerce, in the industry of private life, and especially in religion, 
the people of Massachusetts were as free as the people of England. 

10. In the year 1652, it was decreed by the general court at Boston 
that the jurisdiction of the province extended as far north as three miles 
above the most northerly waters of the river Merrimac. This declaration, 


L. of 0. 


100 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


which was in strict accordance with the charter of the colony, was made 
for the purpose of annexing Maine to Massachusetts. By this measure 
the territory of the latter State was extended to Casco Bay. Settlements 
had been made on the Piscataqua as early as 1626, but had not flourished. 
Thirteen years later a royal charter was issued to Sir Ferdinand Gorges, 
a member of the Council of Plymouth, who became proprietor of the 
province. His cousin, Thomas Gorges, was made deputy-governor. A 
high-sounding constitution, big enough for an empire, was drawn up, and 
the little village of Gorgeana, afterward York, became the capital of the 
kingdom. Meanwhile, in 1630, the Plymouth Council had granted to 
another corporation sixteen hundred square miles of the territory around 
Casco Bay, and this claim had been purchased by Eigby, a republican 
member of Parliament. Between his deputies and those of Gorges violent 
disputes arose. The villagers of Maine, sympathizing with neither party, 
and emulous of the growth and prosperity of the southern colonies, laid 
their grievances before the court at Boston, and the annexation of the 
province followed. 

11. In July of 1656, the Quakers began to arrive at Boston. The 
first who came were Ann Austin and Mary Fisher. The introduction of 
the plague would have occasioned less alarm. The two women were caught 
and searched for marks of witchcraft, their trunks were broken open, 
their books were burned by the hangman, and they themselves thrown 
into prison. After several weeks’ confinement they were brought forth 
and banished from the colony. Before the end of the year eight others 
had been arrested and sent back to England. The delegates of the union 
were immediately convened, and a rigorous law was passed, excluding all 
Quakers from the country. Whipping, the loss of one ear and banish¬ 
ment were the penalties for the first offence; after a second conviction the 
other ear should be cut off; and should the criminal again return, his 
tongue should be bored through with a red-hot iron. 

12. In 1657, Ann Burden, who had come from London to preach 
against persecution, was seized and beaten with twenty stripes. Others 
came, were whipped and exiled. As the law became more cruel and 
proscriptive, fresh victims rushed forward to brave its terrors. The 
assembly of the four colonies again convened, and advised the authorities 
of Massachusetts to pronounce the penalty of death against the fanatical 
disturbers of the public peace. When the resolutions embodying this ad¬ 
vice was put before the assembly, to his everlasting honor, the younger 
Winthrop, delegate from Connecticut, voted No! Massachusetts ac¬ 
cepted the views of the greater number, and the death-penalty was passed 
by a majority of one vote. 


MASSACHUSETTS.—THE UNION. 


101 


13. In September of 1659, four persons were arrested and brought to 
trial under this law. The prisoners were given the option of going into 
exile or of being hanged. Two of them (Mary Dyar and Nicholas Davis) 
chose banishment; but the other two (Marmaduke Stephenson and Wil¬ 
liam Robinson) stood firm, denounced the wickedness of the court, and 
were sentenced to death. Mary Dyar, in whom the love of martyrdom 
had triumphed over fear, now returned, and was also condemned. On 
the 27th of October the three were led* forth to execution. The men 
were hanged without mercy; and the woman, after the rope had been 
adjusted to her neck, was reprieved only to be banished. She was con¬ 
veyed beyond the limits of the colony, but immediately returned and was 
executed. William Leddra was next seized, tried and sentenced. As in 
the case of the others, he was offered perpetual exile instead of death. 
He refused, and was hanged. 

14. Before the trial of Leddra was concluded, Wenlock Christison, 
who had already been banished, rushed into the court-room and began to 
upbraid the judges for shedding the blood of the innocent. When put on 
his second trial, he spoke boldly in his own defence; but the jury brought 
in a verdict of guilty, and he was condemned to die. Others, eager for 
the honor of martyrdom, came forward in crowds, and the jails were filled 
with voluntary prisoners. But before the day arrived for Christison’s exe¬ 
cution, the public conscience was aroused; the law was repealed, the prison- 
doors were opened, and Christison, with twenty-seven companions, came 
forth free. The bloody reign of proscription had ended, but not until four 
innocent enthusiasts had given their lives for liberty of conscience. 

15. But let a veil be drawn over this sorrowful event. The history of 
all times is full of scenes of violence and wrong. It could not be ex¬ 
pected that an American colony, founded by exiles, pursued with malice 
and beset with dangers, should be wholly exempt from the shame of evil 
deeds. The Puritans established a religious rather than a civil common¬ 
wealth ; Avhatever put the faith of the people in peril seemed to them 
more to be dreaded than pestilence or death. To ward off heresy, even 
by destroying the heretic, seemed only a natural self-defence. A nobler 
lesson has been learned in the light of better times. 

16. The English Revolution had now run its course. Cromwell was 
dead. The Commonwealth tottered and fell. Charles II. was restored to 
the throne of his ancestors. Tidings of the Restoration reached Boston 
on the 27th of July, 1660. In the same vessel that bore the news came 
Edward Whalley and William Goffe, two of the judges who had passed 
sentence of death on Charles I. It was now their turn to save their lives 
by flight. Governor Endieott received them with courtesy; the agents 


102 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


from the British government came in hot pursuit with orders to arrest 
them. For a while the fugitives, aided by the people of Boston, baffled 
the officers, and then escaped to New Haven. Here for many weeks 
they lay in concealment; not even the Indians would accept the reward 
which was offered for their apprehension. At last the exiles reached the 
valley of the Connecticut and found refuge at the village of Hadley, 
where they passed the remainder of their lives. It was in October of this 
same fatal year that Hugh Peters, the old friend of the colony, the father- 
in-law of the younger Winthrop, was hanged at London. The noble Sir 
Henry Vane was hunted down in Holland, surrendered to the English 
government, condemned and beheaded. 

17. Owing to the partiality of Cromwell, the restrictions on colonial 
commerce which bore so heavily on Virginia were scarcely felt by Massa¬ 
chusetts. On the restoration of monarchy a severer policy was at once 
adopted. All vessels not bearing the English flag were forbidden to 
enter the harbors of New England. A law of exportation was enacted 
by which all articles produced in the colonies and demanded in England 
should be shipped to England only. Such articles of American produc¬ 
tion as the English merchants did not desire might be sold in any of the 
ports of Europe. The law of importation was equally odious; such 
articles as were produced in England should not be manufactured in 
America, and should be bought from England only. Free trade between 
the colonies was forbidden; and a duty of five per cent., levied for the 
benefit of the English king, was put on both exports and imports. 
Human ingenuity could hardly have invented a set of measures better 
calculated to produce an American Revolution. 

18. In 1664, war broke out between England and Holland. It became 
a part of the English military plans to reduce the Hutch settlements on 
the Hudson; and for this purpose a fleet was sent to America. But there 
was another purpose also. Charles II. was anxious to obtain control of 
the New England colonies, that he might govern them according to the 
principles of arbitrary power. The chief obstacle to this undertaking 
was the charter of Massachusetts—an instrument given under the great 
seal of England, and not easily revoked. To accomplish the same end by 
other means was now the object of the king; and with this end in view 
four commissioners were appointed with instructions to go to America, to 
sit in judgment upon all matters of complaint that might arise in New 
England, to settle colonial disputes, and to take such other measures as 
might seem most likely to establish peace and good order in the country. 
The royal commissioners embarked in the British fleet, and in July ar¬ 
rived at Boston. 


MASSACHUSETTS.—KING PHILIP’S WAP. 


103 


19. They were not wanted at Boston. The people of Massachusetts 
knew very well that the establishment of this supreme judgeship in their 
midst was a flagrant violation of their chartered right of self-government. 
Before the commissioners landed the patent was put into the hands of a 
committee for safe -keeping. A decree of the general court forbade the 
citizens to answer any summons issued by the royal judges. A powerful 
letter, full of loyalty and manly protests, was sent directly to the king. 
The commissioners became disgusted with the treatment which they re¬ 
ceived at the hands of the refractory colony, and repaired to Maine and 
New Hampshire. Here they were met with some marks of favor; but 
their official acts were disregarded and soon forgotten. In Rhode Island 
the judges were received with great respect, and their decisions accepted 
as the decisions of the king. The towns of Connecticut were next 
visited; but the people were cold and indifferent, and the commissioners 
retired. Meanwhile, the English monarch, learning how his grand judges 
had been treated, sent a message of recall, and before the end of the year 
they gladly left the country. After a gallant fight, Massachusetts had 
preserved her liberties. Left in the peaceable enjoyment of her civil 
rights, she entered upon a new career of prosperity which, for a period 
of ten years, was marked with no calamity. 


CHAPTER III. 


MASSACHUSETTS.—KING PHILIP’S WAR. 



ASSASOIT, the old sachem of the AVampanoags, died in 1662. For 


-hLL forty-one years he had faithfully kept the treaty made by himself 
with the first settlers at Plymouth. His elder son, Alexander; now be¬ 
came chief of the nation, but died within the year; and the chieftainship 
descended to the younger brother, Philip of Mount Hope. It was 
the fate of this brave and able man to lead his people in a final and hope¬ 
less struggle against the supremacy of the whites. Causes of war had 
existed for many years, and the time had come for the conflict. 

2. The unwary natives of New England had sold their lands. The 
English were the purchasers; the chiefs had signed the deeds; the price 
had been fairly paid. Year by year the territory of the tribes had nar¬ 
rowed ; the old men died, but the deeds remained and the lands could 
not be recovered. There were at this time in the country east of the 



104 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Hudson not more than twenty-five thousand Indians; the English had 
increased to fully twice that number. A new generation had arisen who 
could not understand the validity of the old titles. The young warriors 
sighed for the freedom of their fathers’ hunting-grounds. They looked 
with ever-increasing jealousy on the growth of English villages and the 
spread of English farms. The ring of the foreigner’s axe had scared the 
game out of the forest, and the foreigner’s net had scooped the fishes from 
the red man’s river. Of all their ancient domain, the Wampanoags had 
nothing left but the two narrow peninsulas of Bristol and Tiverton, on 
the eastern coast of Narragansett Bay. 

3. There were personal grievances also. While Alexander lived he 
had been arrested, tried by an English jury and imprisoned. He had 
caught his death-fever in a Boston jail. Another chieftain was appre¬ 
hended in a similar way; and then the Indian witness who appeared at 
the trial was murdered for giving testimony. The perpetrators of this 
crime were seized by the English, convicted and hanged. Perhaps King 
Philip, if left to himself, would have still sought peace. He was not a 
rash man, and clearly foresaw the inevitable issue of the struggle. He 
hesitated, and was affected with great grief when the news came that an 
Englishman had been killed. But the young men of the tribe were 
thirsting for bloody revenge, and could no longer be restrained. The 
women and children were hastily sent across the bay and put under the 

protection of Canonchet, king of the 
Narragansetts. On the 24th of June, 
1675, the village of Swanzey was 
attacked; eight Englishmen were 
killed; and the alarm of war sound¬ 
ed through the colonies. 

4. Within a week the militia of 
Plymouth, joined by volunteer com¬ 
panies from Boston, entered the 
enemy’s country. A few Indians 
were overtaken and killed. The 
troops marched into the peninsula 
of Bristol, reached Mount Hope, 
and compelled Philip to fly for his 
life. With a band of fugitives 
numbering five or six hundred, he 
escaped to Tiverton, on the eastern side of the bay. Here, a few days 
afterward, they were attacked ; but lying concealed in a swamp, they beat 
back their assailants with considerable loss. The place was then sur- 



FIRST SCENE OF KING PHILIP S WAR. 








MASSACHUSETTS.—KING PHILIP'S WAR. 


105 


rounded and besieged for two weeks; but Philip and his men, when 
brought to the point of starvation, managed to escape in the night, crossed 
the bay and fled to the country of the Nipmucks, in Central Massa¬ 
chusetts. Here the king and his warriors became the heralds of a general 
war. The slumbering hatred of the savages was easily kindled into open 
hostility . I or a whole year the scattered settlements of the frontier be¬ 
came a scene of burning, massacre and desolation. 

5. After 1 hilip s flight from Tiverton, the English forces marched 
into the country of the Narragansetts. Here the women and children of 
the AVampanoags had been received and sheltered. The wavering Canon, 
diet was given his choice of peace or war. He cowered before the Eng¬ 
lish muskets and signed a treaty, agreeing that his nation should observe 
neutrality and deliver up all fugitives from the hostile tribe. Still, it 
was only a question of time when the Narragansetts would break their 
covenant and espouse the cause of Philip. 

6. The war was now transferred to the Connecticut valley. It had 
been hoped that the Nipmucks would remain loyal to the English; but 
the influence of the exiled chieftain prevailed with them to take up arms. 
As usual with savages, treachery was added to hos¬ 
tility. Captains Wheeler and Hutchinson, with a 
company of twenty men, were sent to Brookfield to 
hold a conference with ambassadors from the Nip- 
muck nation. Instead of preparing for the council, 
the Indians laid an ambush near the village, and 
when the English were well surrounded, fired upon 
them, killing nearly the whole company. A few 
survivors, escaping to the settlement, gave the alarm, 
and the people fled to their block-house just in 
time to save their lives. 

7. For two days the place was assailed with every 
missile that savage ingenuity could invent. Finally, 
the house was fired with burning arrows, and the 
destruction of all seemed certain; but just as the roof 
began to blaze, the friendly clouds poured down a shower of rain, and 
the flames were extinguished. Then came reinforcements from Spring- 
field, and the Indians fled. The people of Brookfield now abandoned 
their homes and sought refuge in the towns along the river. On the 
26th of August, a battle was fought in the outskirts of Deerfield. The 
whites were successful; but a few days afterward the savages succeeded 
in firing the village, and the greater part of it was burned to the ground. 
A storehouse containing the recently-gathered harvests was saved, and 







106 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Captain Lathrop, with a company of eighty picked men, undertook the 
dangerous task of removing the stores to Hadley. A train of wagons, 
loaded with wheat and corn and guarded by the soldiers, left Deerfield on 
the 18th of September, and had proceeded five miles, when they were 
suddenlv surrounded by eight hundred Indians who lay in ambush at 
the ford of a small creek. The whites fought desperately, and were 
killed almost to a man. Meanwhile, Captain Mosely, at the head of 
seventy militia, arrived, and the battle continued, the English retreating 
until they were reinforced by a band of a hundred and sixty English and 
Mohegans. The savages were then beaten back with heavy losses. The 
little stream where this fatal engagement occurred, was henceforth called 
Bloody Brook. 

8. On the same day of the burning of Deerfield, Hadley was attacked 
while the people were at church. Everything was in confusion, and the 
barbarians had already begun their work of butchery, when the gray¬ 
haired General Goffe, who was concealed in the village, rushed forth from 
his covert, and by rallying and directing the flying people saved them 
from destruction. After the Indians had been driven into the woods, the 
aged veteran went back to his hiding-place, and was seen no more. Late 
in the autumn, a battle was fought at Springfield; the town was assaulted 
and most of the dwellings burned. Another attack was made on Hadley, 
and a large part of the village was left in ashes. Hatfield was the next 
object of savage vengeance; but here the English were found prepared, 
and the Indians were repulsed with heavy losses. The farms and the 
weaker settlements were now abandoned, and the people sought shelter in 
the stronger towns near the river. 

9. Philip, finding that he could do no further harm on the northern 
frontier, gathered his warriors together and repaired to the Narragansetts. 
By receiving them, Canonchet openly violated his treaty with the Eng¬ 
lish, but to refuse them was contrary to the savage virtues of his race. 
To share the dubious fate of Philip was preferred to the longer con¬ 
tinuance of a hateful alliance with foreigners. The authorities of Massa¬ 
chusetts immediately declared war against the Narragansett nation, and 
Rhode Island was invaded by a thousand men under command of Colonel 
Josiah Winslow. It was the determination to crush the Wampanoags 
and the Narragansetts at one blow; the manner of defence adopted by 
the savages favored such an undertaking. In the middle of an immense 
cedar swamp, a short distance south-west of Kingston, in the county of 
Washington, the Indians collected to the number of three thousand. 
Into this place was gathered the whole wealth of the Narragansett nation. 
A village of wigwams extended over several acres of land that rose out 


MASSACHUSETTS.—KING PHILIP'S WAR. 


107 


of the surrounding morasses. A fort was built on the island, and fortified 
with a palisade and a breastwork of felled timber. Here the savages be¬ 
lieved themselves secure from assault. The English regiment arrived at 
the swamp at daybreak on the 19th of December, and struggling through 
the bogs, reached the fort at noonday. The attack was made imme¬ 
diately, The only entrance to the camp was by means of a fallen tree 
that lay from an opening in the palisade to the opposite bank of a pond. 
Over this hazardous passage a brave 
few sprang forward, but were in¬ 
stantly swept off by the fire of the 
Indians. Another company, made 
cautious by the fate of their com¬ 
rades, crept around the defences, un¬ 
til, finding a point unguarded, they 
charged straight into the enclosure. 

The work of death and destruction 
now began in earnest. The wigwams 
were set on fire, and the kindling 
flames swept around the village. The yells of the combatants mingled 
with the roar of the conflagration. But the superior discipline and 
valor of the whites soon decided the battle. The Indians, attempting 
to escape from the burning fort, ran everywhere upon the loaded muskets 
of the English. A thousand warriors were killed and hundreds more 
were captured. Nearly all the wounded perished in the flames. There, 
too, the old men, the women and babes of the nation met the horrors 
of death by fire. The pride of the Narragansetts had perished in a day. 
But the victory was dearly purchased; eighty English soldiers, including 
six captains of the regiment, were killed, and a hundred and fifty others 
were wounded. 

10. A few of the savages, breaking through the English lines, escaped. 
Led by Philip, they again repaired to the Nipmucks, and with the open¬ 
ing of spring the war was renewed with more violence than ever. As 
their fortunes declined the Indians grew desperate; they had nothing 
more to lose. Around three hundred miles of frontier, extending from 
Maine to the mouth of the Connecticut, there was massacre and devasta¬ 
tion. Lancaster, Medfield, Groton and Marlborough were laid in ashes. 
Weymouth, within twenty miles of Boston, met the same fate. Every¬ 
where were seen the traces of rapine and murder. 

11. But the end was near at hand. The resources of the savages were 
wasted, and their numbers grew daily less. In April, Canonchet was 
overtaken and captured on the banks of the Blackstone. He was offered 



THIRD SCENE OF KING PHILIP’S WAR. 



/ 08 


HISTORY 01 THE UNITED STATES. 


his life if he would procure a treaty of peace; but the haughty chieftain 
rejected the proposal with disdain, and was put to death. Philip was still 
at large, but his company had dwindled to a handful. In the early sum¬ 
mer, his wife and son were made prisoners ) the latter was sold as a slave, 
and ended his life under the lash of a taskmaster in the Bermudas. The 
savage monarch was heartbroken now, and cared no longer for his life. 
Repairing secretly to his old home at Mount Hope, his place of conceal¬ 
ment was revealed to the whites. A company of soldiers was sent to sur¬ 
round him. A treacherous Indian guided the party to the spot, and then 
himself, stealing nearer, took a deadly aim at the breast of his chieftain. 
The report of a musket rang through the forest, and the painted king 
of the Wampanoags sprang forward and fell dead. 

12. New England suffered terribly in this war. The expenses and 
losses of the war amounted to fully five hundred thousand dollars. 
Thirteen towns and six hundred dwellings lay smouldering in ashes. 
Almost every family had heard the war-whoop of the savages. Six 
hundred men, the flower and pride of the country, had fallen in the field. 
Hundreds of families had been butchered in cold blood. Gray-haired 
sire, mother and babe had sunk together under the vengeful blow of the 
red man’s gory tomahawk. Now there was peace again. The Indian 
race was swept out of New England. The tribes beyond the Connecticut 
came humbly submissive, and pleaded for their lives. The colonists re¬ 
turned to their desolated farms and villages to build new homes in the 
ashes of old ruins. 

13. The echo of King Philip’s war had hardly died away before the 
country was involved in troubles of a different sort. It had been ex¬ 
pected that the English government would do something to repair the 
heavy losses which the colonists had sustained; but not so. Instead of 
help came Edward Randolph, a royal emissary, with authority to collect 
duties and abridge colonial liberties. Governor Leverett received him 
coldly, and told him in plain words that not even the king could right¬ 
fully restrict the freedom of his American subjects; that the people of the 
colonies had finished the Indian war without a cent of expense to the 
English treasury, and that they were now fairly entitled to the enjoyment 
of their chartered rights. After a six weeks’ sojourn at Boston, Randolph 
sailed back to London, bearing to the ministry an exaggerated account 
of colonial arrogance. The king was already scheming to revoke all the 
New England charters; Randolph’s reception furnished a further pretext 
for such a course of action. 

14. The next trouble was concerning the jurisdiction of Maine. Sir 
Ferdinand Gorges, the old proprietor of that province, was now dead; 


MASSACHUSETTS.—KING PHILIP'S WAR. 


109 


but his heirs had never relinquished their claims to the territory. The 
people of Maine had meanwhile put themselves under the authority of 
Massachusetts; but the representatives of Gorges carried the matter before 
the privy council, and in 1677 a decision was rendered in their favor. 
Thereupon the Boston government made a proposition to the Gorges 
family to purchase their claims; the proposition was accepted, and on the 
6th of May the heirs signed a deed by which, in consideration of twelve 
hundred and fifty pounds sterling, the soil and jurisdiction of the province 
were transferred to Massachusetts. 

15. A similar difficulty arose in regard to New Hampshire. As far 
back as 1622 the Plymouth council had granted this territory to two of 
their own number—Gorges, just mentioned, and Captain John Mason. 
Seven years after the grant was made, Gorges surrendered his claim to 
Mason, who thus became sole proprietor. But this territory was also 
covered by the charter of Massachusetts. Mason died; and now, in 1679, 
his son Robert came forward and claimed the province. This cause was 
also taken before the ministers, who decided that the title of the younger 
Mason was valid. To the great disappointment of the people of both 
provinces, the two governments were arbitrarily separated. The king’s 
policy was now made manifest. A royal government, the first in New 
England, was immediately established over New Hampshire; Mason 
nominated Edward Cranfield as governor, the king confirmed the ap¬ 
pointment, and received in return one-fifth of all the rents. 

16. But the people took care that the rents should not amount to much. 
They refused to recognize Cranfield’s commission, and thwarted his plans 
in every way possible. Being in despair, he wrote to the English govern¬ 
ment that he would esteem it the greatest happiness to return home and 
leave the unreasonable people of New Hampshire to themselves,. The 
king attributed all this trouble to the influence of Massachusetts. He 
could not forget how that commonwealth had treated his custom-house 
officer Randolph. The hostility of the English government to the exist¬ 
ing' order of things in New England became more bitter than ever. To 
carry out his plan of subverting the colonial governments, the king 
directed his judges to make an inquiry as to whether Massachusetts had 
not forfeited her charter. The proceedings were protracted until the 
summer of 1684, when the royal court gave a decision in accordance with 
the monarch’s wishes. The patent was forfeited, said the judges; and 
the English crown might justly assume entire control of the colony. The 
plan of the king was thus on the point of realization, but the shadow of 
death was already at his door. On the 6th of February, 1685, his evil 
reign of twenty-five years ended with his life. 


110 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


17. The new sovereign, James II., immediately adopted his brother’s 
colonial policy. In the next year after his accession, the scheme so long 
entertained was successfully carried out. The charter of Massachusetts 
was formally revoked; all the colonies between Nova Scotia and Narra- 
gansett Bay were consolidated, and Joseph Dudley appointed president. 
New England was not prepared for open resistance ; the colonial assembly 
was dissolved by its own act, and the members returned sullenly to their 
homes. In the winter following, Dudley was superseded by Sir Edmund 
Andros, who had been appointed royal governor of all New England. 
His commission ought to have been entitled An Article for the 
Destruction of Colonial Liberty. If James II. had searched his 
kingdom, he could hardly have found a tool better fitted to do his will. 
The scarlet-coated despot landed at Boston on the 20th of December, and 
at once began the work of demolishing the cherished institutions of the 
people. Randolph was made chief secretary and censor of the press; 
nothing might be printed without his sanction. Popular representation 
was abolished. Voting by ballot was prohibited. Town meetings were 
forbidden. The Church of England was openly encouraged. The public 
schools were allowed to go to ruin. Men were arrested without warrant 
of law; and when as prisoners they arose in court to plead the privileges 
of the great English charter which had stood unquestioned for four hun¬ 
dred and fifty years, they were told that the Great Charter was not made 
for the perverse people of America. Dudley, who had been continued in 
office as chief-justice, was in the habit of saying to his packed juries, at 
the close of each trial: “ Now, worthy gentlemen, we expect a good ver¬ 
dict from you to-day;” and the verdicts were rendered accordingly. 

18. Thus did Massachusetts lose her liberty; and Plymouth fared no 
better. If the stronger colony fell prostrate, what could the weaker do ? 
The despotism of Andros was quickly extended from Cape Cod Bay to 
the Piscataqua, New Hampshire was next invaded and her civil rights 
completely overthrown. Rhode Island suffered the same calamity. In 
May of 1686 her charter was taken away with a writ, and her constitu¬ 
tional rights subverted. Some of the colonists brought forward Indian 
deeds for their lands; the royal judges replied, with a sneer, that the sig¬ 
nature of Massasoit was not worth as much as the scratch of a bear’s paw. 
The seal of Rhode Island was broken, and an irresponsible council ap¬ 
pointed to conduct the government. Attended by an armed guard, Andros 
proceeded to Connecticut. Tradition tells that, arriving at Hartford in 
October, 1687, he found the assembly in session, and demanded the sur¬ 
render of the colonial charter, which was brought in and laid on the 
table. A spirited debate ensued, and continued until evening. When 


MASSACHUSETTS.—WAR AND WITCHCRAFT. 


Ill 


it was about to be decided that the charter should be given up, the lamps 
were suddenly dashed out. Other lights were brought in ; but the char¬ 
ter had disappeared. Joseph Wadsworth, snatching up the precious 
parchment, bore it off through the darkness and concealed it in a hollow 
tree, ever afterward remembered with affection as The Charter Oak. 
But the assembly was overawed and the free government of Connecticut 
subverted. 1 bus was the authority of Andros established throughout 
the country. r lhe people gave vent to their feelings by calling him The 
Tyrant of New England. 

19. But his dominion ended suddenly. The English Revolution of 
1688 was at hand. James II. was driven from his throne and kingdom. 
The entire system of arbitrary rule which that monarch had established 
fell with a crash, and Andros with the rest. The news of the revolution 
and of the accession of William and Mary reached Boston on the 4th of 
April, 1689. A few days afterward, the governor had occasion to write 
a note to his colonel of militia, telling him to keep the soldiers under 
arms, as there was “ a general buzzing among the people.” On the 18th 
of the month, the citizens of Charlestown and Boston rose in open rebel¬ 
lion. Andros and his minions, attempting to escape, were seized and 
marched to prison. The insurrection spread through the country; and 
before the 10th of May every colony in New England had restored its 
former liberties. 


CHAPTER IY. 

MASSACHUSETTS .— WAR AND WITCHCRAFT. 

I N 1689, war was declared between France and England. This con¬ 
flict, known in American history as King William’s War, grew 
out of the English Revolution of the preceding year. When James II. 
escaped from his kingdom, he found refuge at the court of Louis XIV. 
of France. The two monarehs were both Catholics, and both held the 
same despotic theory of government. On this account, and from other 
considerations, an alliance was made between them, by the terms of which 
Louis agreed to support James in his effort to recover the English throne. 
Parliament, meanwhile, had settled the crown on William of Orange. 
By these means the new sovereign was brought into conflict not only 
with the exiled James, but also with his confederate, the king of France. 
8 



112 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


The war which thus originated in Europe soon extended to the American 
colonies of the two nations; New England and New France entered the 
conflict under the flags of their respective countries. 

2. The struggle began on the north-eastern frontier of New Hamp¬ 
shire. On the 27th of June, a party of Indians in alliance with the 
French made an attack on Dover. The venerable magistrate of the 
town, Richard Waldron, now eighty years of age, was inhumanly mur¬ 
dered. Twenty-three others were killed, and twenty-nine dragged off 
captive into the wilderness. 

3. In August a war-party of a hundred Abenakis embarked in a fleet 
of canoes, floated out of the mouth of the Penobscot, and steered down 
the coast to Pemaquid, now Bremen. The inhabitants were taken by 
surprise; a company of farmers were surrounded in the harvest-field and 
murdered. The fort was besieged for two days and compelled to sur¬ 
render. A few of the people escaped into the woods, but the greater 
number were killed or carried away captive. A month later an alliance 
was effected between the English and the powerful Mohawks west of the 
Hudson; but the Indians refused to make war upon their countrymen of 
Maine. The Dutch settlements of New Netherland, having now passed 
under the dominion of England, made common cause against the French. 

4. In January of 1690 a regiment of French and Indians left Montreal 
and directed their march to the south. Crossing the Mohawk River, they 
arrived on the 8th of February at the village of Schenectady. Lying 
concealed in the forest until midnight, they stole through the unguarded 
gates, raised the war-whoop and began the work of death. The town was 
soon in flames. Sixty people were killed and scalped; the rest, escaping 
naif clad into the darkness, ran sixteen miles through the snow to Albany. 
The settlement of Salmon Falls, on the Piscataqua, was next attacked and 
destroyed by a war-party led by the Frenchman Hertel. Joining another 
company from Quebec, under command of Portneuf, the savages pro¬ 
ceeded against the colony at Casco Bay. The English fort at that place 
was taken and the settlements broken up. Thus far the fortunes of the 
war had been wholly on the side of the French and their allies. 

5. But New England was now thoroughly aroused. In order to pro¬ 
vide the ways and means of war, a colonial congress was convened at New 
York. Here it was resolved to attempt the conquest of Canada by march¬ 
ing an army by way of Lake Champlain against Montreal. At the same 
time, Massachusetts was to co-operate with the land forces by sending a 
fleet by way of the St. Lawrence for the reduction of Quebec. Thirty- 
four vessels, carrying two thousand troops, were accordingly fitted out, and 
the command given to Sir William Phipps. Proceeding first against Port 


113 


MASSACHUSETTS.—WAR AND WITCHCRAFT. 

Royal, he compelled a surrender; the whole of Nova Scotia submitted 
without a struggle. If the commander had sailed at once against Quebec, 
that place too would have been forced to capitulate; but vexatious delays 
retarded the expedition until the middle of October. Meanwhile, an 
Abenaki Indian had carried the news of the coming armament to Fronte- 
nac, governor of Canada; and when the fleet came in sight of the town, 
the castle of St. Louis was so well garrisoned and provisioned as to bid 
defiance to the English forces. The opportunity was lost, and it only 
remained for Phipps to sail back to Boston. To meet the expenses of 
this unfortunate expedition, Massachusetts was obliged to issue bills of 
credit which were made a legal tender in the payment of debt. Such 
was the origin of paper money in America. 

b. Meanwhile, the land forces had proceeded from Albany as far as 
Lake Champlain. Here dissensions arose among the commanders. 
Colonel Leisler of New York charged Winthrop of Connecticut with 
treachery; and the charge was' returned that Leisler’s commissary had 
lurnished no supplies for the Connecticut soldiers. The quarrel became 
so violent that the expedition had to be abandoned, and the troops 
marched gloomily homeward. The great campaign had resulted in com¬ 
plete humiliation. 

7. Sir William Phipps had as little success in civil matters as in the 
command of a fleet. Shortly after his return from Quebec he was sent as 
ambassador to England. The objects of his mission were, in the first 
place, to procure aid from the English government in the further prose¬ 
cution of the war; and secondly, to secure, if possible, a reissue of the old 
colonial charter. To the first of these requests the ministers replied that 
the armies and navies of England could not be spared to take part in 
a petty Indian war; and the second was met with coldness and refusal. 
King William was secretly opposed to the liberal provisions of the former 
charter, and looked with disfavor on the project of renewing it. It is 
even doubtful whether Phipps himself desired the restoration of the old 
patent; for when he returned to Boston in the spring of 1692, he bore a 
new instrument from the king, and a commission as royal governor of the 
province. By the terms of this new constitution, Plymouth, Maine and 
Nova Scotia were consolidated with Massachusetts; while New Hamp¬ 
shire, against the protests and petitions of her people, was forcibly sepa¬ 
rated from the mother colony. 

8. The war still continued, but without decisive results. In 1694, the 
village of Oyster River, now Durham, was destroyed by a band of savages 
led bv the French captain Villieu. The inhabitants, to the number of 
ninety-four, were either killed or carried into captivity. Two years later 


114 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


the English fortress at Pemaquid was a second time surrendered to the 
French and Indians, under command of Baron Castin. The captives 
were sent to Boston and exchanged for prisoners in the hands of the 
English. In the following March, the town of Haverhill, on the Merri- 
mac, was captured under circumstances of special atrocity. A early forty 
persons were butchered in cold blood; only a few were spared for cap¬ 
tivity. Among the latter was Mrs. Hannah Dustin. Her child, only 
a week old, was snatched out of her arms and dashed against a tree. The 
heartbroken mother, with her nurse and a lad named Leonardson, from 
Worcester, was taken by the savages to an island in the Merrimac, a short 
distance above Concord. Here, while their captors, twelve in number, 
were asleep at night, the three prisoners arose, silently armed themselves 
with tomahawks, and with one deadly blow after another crushed in the 
temples of the sleeping savages, until ten of them lay still in death; 
then, embarking in a canoe, the captives dropped down the river and 
reached the English settlement in safety. Mrs. Dustin carried home with 
her the gun and tomahawk of the savage who had destroyed her family, 
and a bag containing the scalps of her neighbors. It is not often that the 
mother of a murdered babe has found such ample vengeance. 

9. But the war was already at an end. Early in 1697, commissioners 
of France and England assembled at the town of Ryswick, in Holland; 
and on the 10th of the following September, a treaty of peace was con¬ 
cluded. King William was acknowledged as the rightful sovereign of 
England, and the colonial boundary-lines of the two nations in America 
were established as before. 

10. Massachusetts had in the mean time been visited with a worse 
calamity than Avar. The darkest page in the history of New England is 
that which bears the record of the Salem Witchcraft. The same 
town which fifty-seven years previously had cast out Roger Williams Avas 
iioav to become the scene of the most fatal delusion of modern times. In 
February of 1692, in that part of Salem aftenvard called Daiwers, a 
daughter and a niece of Samuel Parris, the minister, Avere attacked with 
a nervous disorder Avhich rendered them partially insane. Parris be¬ 
lieved, or affected to believe, that the two girls Avere bewitched, and that 
Tituba, an Indian maid-servant of the household, Avas the author of the 
affliction. He had seen her performing some of the rude ceremonies of 
her own religion, and this gave color to his suspicions. He tied Tituba, 
and whipped the ignorant creature until, at his own dictation, she con¬ 
fessed herself a witch. Here, no doubt, the matter Avould have ended 
had not other causes existed for the continuance and spread of the miser¬ 
able delusion. 


MASSACHUSETTS.—WAR AND WITCHCRAFT. 


115 


11. But Parris had had a quarrel in his church. A part of the congre¬ 
gation desired that George Burroughs, a former minister, should be rein¬ 
stated, to the exclusion of Parris. Burroughs still lived at Salem; and 
there was great animosity between the partisans of the former and the 
present pastor. Burroughs disbelieved in witchcraft, and openly ex¬ 
pressed his contempt of the system. Here, then, Parris found an oppor¬ 
tunity to turn the confessions of the foolish Indian servant against his 
enemies, to overwhelm his rival with the superstitions of the community, 
and perhaps to have him put to death. There is no doubt whatever that 
the whole murderous scheme originated in the personal malice of Parris. 

12. But there were others ready to aid him. First among these was 
the celebrated Cotton Mather, minister of Boston. He, being in high re¬ 
pute for wisdom, had recently preached much on the subject of witchcraft, 
teaching the people that witches were dangerous and ought to be put to 
death. He thus became the natural confederate of Parris, and the chief 
author of the terrible scenes that ensued. Sir William Phipps, the royal 
governor, who had just arrived from England, was a member of Mather’s 
church. Increase Mather, the father of Cotton, had nominated Phipps to 
his present office. Stoughton, the deputy-governor, who was appointed 
judge and presided at the trials of the witches, was the tool of Parris and 
the two Mathers. To these men, more especially to Parris and Mather, 
must be charged the full infamy of what followed. 

13. By the laws of England witchcraft was punishable with death. 
The code of Massachusetts was the same as that of the mother-country. 
In the early history of the colony, one person charged with being a 
wizard had been arrested at Charlestown, convicted and executed. But 
with the progress and enlightenment of the people, many had grown bold 
enough to denounce and despise the baleful superstition. Something, 
therefore, had to be done to save the tottering fabric of witchcraft from 
falling into contempt. A special court was accordingly appointed by 
Governor Phipps to go to Salem and to sit in judgment on the persons 
accused by Parris. Stoughton was the presiding judge, Parris himself 
the prosecutor, and Cotton Mather a kind of bishop to decide w hen the 
testimony was sufficient to condemn. 

14. On the 21st of March, the horrible proceedings began. Mary Cory 
was arrested, not indeed for being a witch, but for denying the reality of 
witchcraft. When brought before the church and court, she denied all 
guilt, but was convicted and hurried to prison. Sarah Cloyce and 
Rebecca Nurse, two sisters of the most exemplary lives, were next appre¬ 
hended as witches. The only witnesses against them were Tituba, her half¬ 
witted Indian husband and the simple girl Abigail Williams, the niece 


116 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


of Parris. The victims were sent to prison, protesting their innocence. 
Giles Cory, a patriarch of eighty years, was next seized; he also was one 
of those who had opposed Parris. The Indian accuser fell down before 
Edward Bishop, pretending to be in a fit under satanic influence; the 
sturdy farmer cured him instantly with a sound flogging, and said that 
he could restore the rest of the afflicted in the same manner. He and his 
wife were immediately arrested and condemned. George Burroughs, the 
rival of Parris, was accused and hurried to prison. And so the work 
went on, until seventy-five innocent people were locked up in dungeons. 
Not a solitary partisan of Parris or Mather had been arrested. 

15. In the hope of saving their lives, some of the terrified prisoners 
uoav began to confess themselves witches, or bewitched. It was soon 
found that a confession was almost certain to procure liberation. It be¬ 
came evident that the accused were to be put to death, not for being 
witches or wizards, but for denying the reality of witchcraft. The special 
court was already in session; convictions followed fast; the gallows stood 
waiting for its victims. The truth of Mather’s preaching was to be estab¬ 
lished by hanging whoever denied it; and Parris was to save his pastorate 
by murdering his rival. When the noble Burroughs mounted the scaffold, 
he stood composedly and repeated correctly the test-prayer which it was 
said no wizard could utter. The people broke into sobs and moans, and 
would have rescued their friend from death; but the tyrant Mather dashed 
among them on horseback, muttering imprecations, and drove the hang¬ 
man to his horrid work. Old Giles Cory, seeing that conviction was cer¬ 
tain, refused to plead, and was pressed to death. Five women were hanged 
in one day. Between the 10th of June and the 22d of September, twenty 
victims were hurried to their doom. Fifty-five others had been tortured 
into the confession of abominable falsehoods. A hundred and fifty lay in 
prison awaiting their fate. Two hundred were accused or suspected, and 
ruin seemed to impend over New England. But a reaction at last set in 
among the people. Notwithstanding the vociferous clamor and denuncia¬ 
tions of Mather, the witch tribunals were overthrown. The representative 
assembly convened early in October, and the hated court which Phipps 
had appointed to sit at Salem was at once dismissed. The spell was dis¬ 
solved. The thralldom of the popular mind was broken. Reason shook 
off the terror that had oppressed it. The prison doors were opened, and 
the victims of malice and superstition went forth free. In the beginning 
of the ne^xt year a few persons charged with witchcraft were again 
arraigned and brought before the courts. Some were even convicted, but 
the conviction went for nothing; not another life was sacrificed to passion 
and fanaticism. 


Massachusetts.—wars of anne and george. 117 


16. Most of those who had participated in the terrible deeds of the 
preceding summer confessed the great wrong which they had done; but 
'Confessions could not restore the dead. The bigoted Mather, in a vain 
attempt to justify himself before the world, wrote a treatise in which he 
expressed his great thankfulness that so many witches had met their just 
doom. It is not the least humiliating circumstance of this sad business 
that Mather’s hypocritical and impudent book received the approbation 
of the president of Harvard College. In all this there is to the American 
student one consoling reflection—the pages of his country’s history will 
never again be blotted with so dark a stain. 


CHAPTER V. 

MASSACHUSETTS.—WARS OF ANNE AND GEORGE. 

milE peace which followed the treaty of Ryswick was of short dura-. 
-L tion. Within less than four years France and England were again 
involved in a conflict which, beginning in Europe, soon extended to the 
American colonies. In the year 1700, Charles II., king of Spain, died, 
having named as his successor Philip of Anjou, a grandson of Louis 
XIV. This measure pointed clearly to a union of the crowns of France 
and Spain. The jealousy of all Europe was aroused; a league was 
formed between England, Holland and Austria; the archduke Charles 
of the latter country was put forward by the allied powers as a candidate 
for the Spanish throne; and Avar Avas declared against Louis XIV. for 
supporting the claims of Philip. 

2. England had against France another cause of offence. In Septem¬ 
ber of 1701, James II., the exiled king of Great Britain, died at the court 
of Louis, who noAv, in violation of the treaty of RysAvick, recognized the 
son of James as the rightful sovereign of England. This action Avas re¬ 
garded as an open insult to English nationality. King W illiam led his 
armies to the field not less to thwart the ambition of France than to save 
his OAvn croAvn and kingdom. But the English monarch did not live to 
carry out his plans. While yet the Avar Avas hardly begun, the king fell 
from his horse, Avas attacked with fever, and died in May of le02. 
Parliament had already settled the crown on Anne, the sister-in-law 
of William and daughter of James II. The new sovereign adopted the 



118 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


policy of her predecessor. From the circumstance of her reign, the con¬ 
flict with France, which lasted for nearly thirteen years, is known in his¬ 
tory as Queen Anne’s War; but a better name is The War of the 
Spanish Succession. 

3. In America the field of operations was limited to New England 
and South Carolina. The central colonies were scarcely aware that war 
existed. The military operations of both parties were conducted in a 
feeble and desultory manner. The more influential Indian tribes held 
aloof from the struggle. In August, 1701, the powerful Five Nations, 
whose dominions south of Lake Ontario and the river St. Lawrence formed 
a barrier between Canada and New York, made a treaty of neutrality 
with both the French and the English. The Abenakis of Maine did the 
same; but the French Jesuits prevailed with the latter to break their 
compact. The first notice of treachery which the English had, was a 
fearful massacre. In one day the whole country between the town of 
Wells and the Bay of Casco was given up to burning and butchery. 

4. In midwinter of 1703-4 the town of Deerfield was destroyed. A 
war-party of three hundred French and Indians, setting out from Canada, 
marched on the snow-crust into the Connecticut valley. On the last 
night of February, the savages lay in the pine forest that surrounded the 
ill-fated village. Just before daybreak they rushed from their covert and 
fired the houses. Forty-seven of the inhabitants were tomahawked. A 
hundred and twelve were dragged into captivity. The prisoners, many 
of them women and children, were obliged to march to Canada. The 
snow lay four feet deep. The poor wretches, haggard with fear and 
starvation, sank down and died. The deadly hatchet hung ever above 
the heads of the feeble and the sick. Eunice Williams, the minister’s 
w r ife, fainted by the wayside; in the presence of her husband and five 
captive children, her brains were dashed out with a tomahawk. Those 
who survived to the end of the journey were afterward ransomed and 
permitted to return to their desolated homes. A daughter of Mr. Wil¬ 
liams remained with the savages, grew up among the Mohawks, married 
a chieftain, and in after years returned in Indian garb to Deerfield. No 
entreaties could induce her to remain with her friends. The solitude of 
the woods and the society of her tawny husband had prevailed over the 
charms of civilization. 

5. In Maine and New Hampshire the war was marked with similar 
barbarities. Farms were devastated; towns were burned; the inhabitants 
were murdered or carried to Canada. Prowling bands of savages, led on 
by French officers, penetrated at times into the heart of Massachusetts. 
Against the treacherous barbarians and their bloodthirsty leaders there 


MASSACHUSETTS.—WARS OF ANNE AND GEORGE. 


119 


was no security either at home or abroad. Along the desolated frontier 
ruin prevailed, as in the days of King Philip. 

6. In 1707, the reduction of Port Royal was undertaken by Massa¬ 
chusetts. A fleet, bearing a thousand soldiers, was equipped and sent 
against the town. But Baron Castin, who commanded the French garri¬ 
son, conducted the defence with so much skill that the English were 
obliged to abandon the undertaking. From this costly and disastrous 
expedition Massachusetts gained nothing but discouragement and debt. 
Nevertheless, after two years of preparation, the enterprise was renewed; 
and in 1710 an English and American fleet of thirty-six vessels, having 
on board four regiments of troops, anchored before Port Royal. The 
garrison was weak; Subercase, the French commander, had neither 
talents nor courage; famine came; and after a feeble defence of eleven 
days, the place surrendered at discretion. By this conquest all of Nova 
Scotia passed under the dominion of the English. The flag of Great 
Britain was hoisted over the conquered fortress, and the name of Port 
Royal gave place to Annapolis, in honor of Queen Anne. 

7. Vast preparations were now made for the invasion of Canada. A 
land force under command of General Nicholson was to march against 
Montreal, while Quebec, the key to the French dominions in America, 
was to be reduced by an English fleet. For this purpose fifteen men-of- 
war and forty transports were placed under command of Sir Hovenden 
Walker. Seven regiments of veterans, selected from the armies of Europe, 
were added to the colonial forces and sent with the expedition. Before 
such an armament the defences of Quebec could hardly hold out an hour. 
But for the utter incompetency of the admiral, success would have been 
assured. 

8. For six weeks in midsummer the great fleet lay idly in Boston Har¬ 
bor. Sir Hovenden was getting ready to sail. The Abenaki Indians 
carried the news leisurely to Quebec; and every day added to the strength 
of the ramparts. At last, on the 30th of July, when no further excuse 
could be invented, the ships set sail for the St. Lawrence. At the Bay 
of Gasp6 the admiral thought it necessary to loiter a while; then he 
busied himself with devising a plan to save his ships from the ice during 
the next winter. Proceeding slowly up the St. Lawrence, the fleet, on 
the 22d of August, was enveloped in a thick fog. The wind blew hard 
from the east. The commander was cautioned to remain on deck, but 
went quietly to bed. A messenger aroused him just in time to see eight 
of his best vessels dashed to pieces on the rocks. Eight hundred and 
eighty-four men went down in the foaming whirlpools. A council of war 
was held, and all voted that it was impossible to proceed. In a letter to 


120 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


the English government, Walker expressed great gratitude that by the 
loss of a thousand men the rest had been saved from freezing to death at 
Quebec. The fleet sailed back to England, and the colonial troops were 
disbanded at Boston. 

9. Meanwhile, the army of General Nicholson had marched against 
Montreal. But when news arrived of the failure of the fleet, the land 
expedition was also abandoned. The dallying cowardice of Walker had 
brought the campaign of 1711 to a shameful end. France had already 
made overtures for peace. Negotiations were formally begun in the early 
part of 1712; and on the 11th of April in the following year a treaty 
was concluded at Utrecht, a town of Holland. By the terms of the settle¬ 
ment, England obtained control of the fisheries of Newfoundland. Labra¬ 
dor, the Bay of Hudson and the whole of Acadia, or Nova Scotia, were 
ceded to Great Britain. On the 13th of July the chiefs of the hostile 
Indian tribes met the ambassadors of New England at Portsmouth, and a 
second treaty was concluded, by which peace was secured throughout the 
American colonies. 

10. For thirty-one years after the close of Queen Anne’s war, Massa¬ 
chusetts was free from hostile invasion. This was not, however, a period 
of public tranquillity. The people were dissatisfied with the royal govern¬ 
ment which King William had established, and were at constant variance 
with their governors. Phipps and his administration had been heartily 
disliked. Governor Shute was equally unpopular. Burnett, who suc¬ 
ceeded him, and Belcher afterward, were only tolerated because they 
could not be shaken off. The opposition to the royal officers took the 
form of a controversy about their salaries. The general assembly in¬ 
sisted that the governor and his councilors should be paid in proportion 
to the importance of their several offices, and for actual service only. 
But the royal commissions gave to each officer a fixed salary, which was 
frequently out of all proportion to the services required. After many 
years of antagonism, the difficulty was finally adjusted with a compromise 
in which the advantage was wholly on the side of the people. It was 
agreed that the salaries of the governor and his assistants should be an¬ 
nually allowed, and the amount fixed by vote of the assembly. The 
representatives of popular liberty had once more triumphed over the 
principles of arbitrary rule. 

11. On the death of Charles VI. of Austria, in 1740, there were 
two principal claimants to the crown of the empire—Maria Theresa, 
daughter of the late emperor, and Charles Albert of Bavaria. Each 
claimant had his party and his army; war followed; and nearly all the 
nations of Europe were swept into the conflict. As usually happened in 


MASSACHUSETTS.—WARS OF ANNE AND GEORGE. 


121 


such struggles, England and France were arrayed against each other. 
The contest that ensued is generally known as the War of the Austrian 
Succession, but in American history is called King George’s War; 
for George II. was now king of England. 

12. In America the only important event of the war was the capture 
of Louisburg, on Cape Breton Island. This place had been fortified at 
vast expense by the French. Standing at the principal entrance to the 
gulf and river of St. Lawrence, the fortress was regarded as a key to the 
Canadian provinces. New England was quick to note that both New¬ 
foundland and Nova Scotia were threatened so long as the French flag 
floated over Louisburg. Governor Shirley brought the matter before the 
legislature of Massachusetts, and it was resolved to attempt the capture 
of the enemy’s stronghold. 

13. The other colonies were invited to aid the enterprise. Connecticut 
responded by sending more than five hundred troops; New Hampshire 
and Rhode Island each furnished three hundred; a park of artillery 
was sent from New York; and Pennsylvania contributed a supply of 
provisions. The forces of Massachusetts alone numbered more than three 
thousand. It only remained to secure the co-operation of the English 
fleet then cruising in the West Indies. An earnest invitation was sent to 
Commodore Warren to join his armament with the colonial forces; but 
having no orders, he declined the request. Everything devolved on the 
army and navy of New England, but there was no quailing under the 
responsibility. William Pepperell, of Maine, was appointed commander- 
in-chief; and on the 4th of April, 1745, the fleet sailed for Cape Breton. 

14. At Canseau, the eastern cape of Nova Scotia, the expedition was 
detained for sixteen days. The sea was thick with ice-drifts floating 
from the north. But the delay was fortunate, for in the mean time Com¬ 
modore Warren had received instructions from England to proceed to 
Massachusetts and aid Governor Shirley in the contemplated reduction 
of Cape Breton. Sailing to the north, Warren brought his fleet safely to 
Canseau on the 23d of April. On the last day of the month the arma¬ 
ment, now numbering a hundred vessels, entered the Bay of Gabarus in 
sight of Louisburg. A landing was effected four miles below the city. 
On the next day a company of four hundred volunteers, led by William 
Vaughan, marched across the peninsula and attacked a French battery 
which had been planted on the shore two miles beyond the town. The 
French, struck with terror at the impetuosity of the unexpected charge, 
spiked their guns and fled. Before morning the cannons were re-drilled 
and turned upon the fortress. An English battery was established on 
the east side of the harbor, but the sea-walls of Louisburg were so strong 


122 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


that little damage was clone by the guns across the bay. An attack in 
the rear of the town seemed impossible on account of a large swamp 
which lay in that direction; but the resolute soldiers of New England 
lashed their heavy guns upon sledges, and dragged them through the 
marsh to a tract of solid ground within two hundred yards of the enemy’s 
bastions. Notwithstanding the advantage of this position, the walls of 
the fort stood firm, and the siege progressed slowly. 

15. On the 18th of May a French ship of sixty-four guns, laden with 
stores for the garrison, was captured by Warren’s fleet. The French 
were greatly discouraged by this event, and the defence grew feeble. 
The English were correspondingly elated with the prospect of success. 
On the 26th of the month an effort was made to capture the French bat¬ 
tery in the harbor. A company of daring volunteers undertook the 
hazardous enterprise by night. Embarking in boats, they drew near the 
island where the battery was planted, but were discovered and repulsed 
with the loss of a hundred and seventy-six men. It was now determined 
to carry the town by storm. The assault was set for the 18th of June; 
but on the day previous the desponding garrison sent out a flag of truce; 
terms of capitulation were proposed and accepted, and the English flag 
rose above the conquered fortress. 

16. By the terms of this surrender not only Louisburg, but the whole 
of Cape Breton, was given up to England. The rejoicing at Boston and 

throughout the colonies was only 
equaled by the indignation and alarm 
of the French government. Louis¬ 
burg must be retaken at all hazards, 
said the ministers of France. For 
this purpose a powerful fleet, under 
command of Duke d’Anville, was sent 
out in the following year. Before 
reaching America the duke died of a 
pestilence. His successor went mad 
siege of louisburg, 1745 . and killed himself. Storms and ship¬ 

wrecks and disasters drove the ill- 
fated expedition to utter ruin. The renewal of the enterprise, in 1747, 
was attended with like misfortune. Commodores Warren and Anson 
oveitook the French squadron and compelled a humiliating surrender. 

17. In 1748, a treaty of peace was concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle, a 
town of Western Germany. After eight years of devastating warfare, 
nothing was gained but a mutual restoration of conquests. By the terms 
of settlement, Cape Breton was surrendered to France. With grief and 








MASSACHUSETTS.—WARS OF ANNE AND GEORGE. 


123 


shame the fishermen and farmers of New England saw the island which 
had been subdued by their valor restored to their enemies. Of all the 
disputed boundary-lines between the French and English colonies in 
America, not a single one was settled by this treaty. The European 
nations had exhausted themselves with fighting; what cared they for the 
welfare of distant and feeble provinces? The real war between France 
and England for colonial supremacy in the West was yet to be fought, 
A\ ithin six years after the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the two great powers 
were involved in the final and decisive conflict. 

18. The history of Massachusetts has now been traced through a period 
of a hundred and thirty years. A few words on the Character of 
the Puritans may be appropriately added. They were in the begin¬ 
ning a vigorous and hardy people, firm-set in the principles of honesty 
and the practices of virtue. They were sober, industrious, frugal; reso¬ 
lute, zealous and steadfast. They esteemed honor above preferment, and 
truth more than riches. Loving home and native land, they left both 
for the sake of freedom; and finding freedom, they cherished it with the 
zeal and devotion of martyrs. Without influence, they became influential; 
without encouragement, great. Despised and mocked and hated, they 
rose above their revilers. In the school of evil fortune they gained the 
discipline of patience. Suffering without cause brought resignation with¬ 
out despair. Themselves the victims of persecution, they became the 
founders of a colony—a commonwealth—a nation. They were the chil¬ 
dren of adversity and the fathers of renown. 

19. The gaze of the Puritan was turned ever to posterity. He believed 
in the future. His affections and hopes were with the coming ages. For 
his children he toiled and sacrificed; for them the energies of his life were 
cheerfully exhausted. The system of free schools is the enduring monu¬ 
ment of his love and devotion. The printing-press is his memorial. 
Almshouses and asylums are the tokens of his care for the unfortunate. 
With him the outcast found sympathy, and the wanderer a home. He 
was the earliest champion of civil rights, and the builder of the Union. 

20. The fathers of New England have been accused of bigotry. The 
charge is true: it is the background of the picture. In matters of re¬ 
ligion they were intolerant and superstitious. Their religious faith was 
gloomy and foreboding. Human life was deemed a sad and miserable 
journey. To be mistaken was to sin. To fail in trifling ceremonies was 
reckoned a grievous crime. In the shadow of such belief the people be¬ 
came austere and melancholy. Escaping from the splendid formality of 
the Episcopal Church, they set up a colder and severer form of worship; 
and the form was made like iron. Dissenters themselves, they could not 


124 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


tolerate the dissent of others. To restrain and punish error seemed right 
and necessary. Williams and Hutchinson were banished; the Quakers 
were persecuted and the witches hanged. But Puritanism contained 
within itself the power to correct its own abuses. The evils of the system 
may well be forgotten in the glory of its achievements. Without the 
Puritans, America would have been a delusion and liberty only a name. 


CHAPTER VI. 

CONNECTICUT. 

T HE history of Connecticut begins with the year 1630. The first 
grant of the territory was made by the council of Plymouth to the 
earl of Warwick; and in March of 1631 the claim was transferred by 
him to Lord Say-and-Seal, Lord Brooke, John Hampden and others. 
Before a colony could be planted by the proprietors, the Hutch of New 
Netherland reached the Connecticut River and built at Hartford their 
fort, called the House of Good Hope. The people of New Plymouth 
immediately organized and sent out a force to counteract this movement 
of their rivals. The territorial claim of the Puritans extended not only 
over Connecticut, but over New Nether land itself and onward to the 
west. Should the intruding Hutch colonists of Manhattan be allowed 
to move eastward and take possession of the finest valley in New Eng¬ 
land ? Certainly not. 

2. The English expedition reached the mouth of the Connecticut and 
sailed up the river. When the little squadron came opposite the House 
of Good Hope, the commander of the garrison ordered Captain Holmes, 
the English officer, to strike his colors; but the order was treated 
with derision. The Hutch threatened to fire in case the fleet should attempt 
to pass; but the English defiantly hoisted sails and proceeded up the river. 
The puny cannons of the House of Good Hope remained cold and silent. 
At a point just below the mouth of the Farmington, seven miles above 
Hartford, the Puritans landed and built the block-house of Windsor. 

3. In October of 1635 a colony of sixty persons left Boston, traversed 
the forests of Central Massachusetts, and settled at Hartford, Windsor 
and Wethersfield. Earlier in the same year the younger Winthrop, a 
man who in all the virtues of a noble life was a worthy rival of his 



CONNECTICUT. 


125 


father, the governor of Massachusetts, arrived in New England. He 
bore a commission from the proprietors of the Western colony to build a 
fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River, and to prevent the further 
encroachments of the Dutch. The fortress was hastily completed and 
the guns mounted just in time to prevent the entrance of a Dutch 
trading-vessel which appeared at the mouth of the river. Such was the 
founding of Saybrook, so named in honor of the proprietors, Lords Say- 
and-Seal and Brooke. Thus was the most important river of New Eng¬ 
land brought under the dominion of the Puritans; the solitary Dutch 
settlement at Hartford was cut of! from succor and left to dwindle into 
insignificance. 

4. To the early annals of Connecticut belongs the sad story of the 
Pequod AY ar. The country west of the Thames was more thickly 
peopled with savages than any other portion of New England. The 
haughty and warlike Pequods were alone able to muster seven hundred 
warriors. The whole effective force of the English colonists did not 
amount to two hundred men. But the superior numbers of the cunning 
and revengeful savages were more than balanced by the unflinching 
courage and destructive weapons of the English. 

5. The first act of violence was committed in the year 1633. The 
crew of a small trading-vessel were ambushed and murdered on the banks 
of the Connecticut. An Indian embassy went to Boston to apologize for 
the crime; the nation was forgiven and received in friendship. A treaty 
was patched up, the Pequods acknowledging the supremacy of the Eng¬ 
lish and promising to become civilized. The Narragansetts, the heredi¬ 
tary enemies of the Pequods, had already yielded to the authority of 
Massachusetts and promised obedience to her laws. A, reconciliation was 
thus effected between the two hostile races of savages. But as soon as the 
Pequods were freed from their old fear of the Narragansetts, they began 
to violate their recent treaty with the English. Oldham, the worthy 
captain of a trading-vessel, was murdered near Block Island. A com¬ 
pany of militia pursued the perpetrators of the outrage and gave them 
a bloody punishment. All the slumbering hatred and suppressed rage 
of the nation burst forth, and the war began in earnest. 

6. In this juncture of affairs the Pequods attempted a piece of danger¬ 
ous diplomacy. A persistent effort was made to induce the Narragansetts 
and the Mohegans to join in a war of extermination against the English; 
and the plot was wellnigh successful. But the heroic Roger AY T illiams, 
faithful in his misfortunes, sent a letter to Sir Henry Vane, governor of 
Massachusetts, warned him of the impending danger, and volunteered his 
services to defeat the conspiracy. The governor replied, urging Williams 


126 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


to use his utmost endeavors to thwart the threatened alliance. Embark¬ 
ing alone in a frail canoe, the exile left Providence, which he had founded 
only a month before, and drifted out into Narragansett Bay. Every mo¬ 
ment it seemed that the poor little boat with its lonely passenger would be 
swallowed up; but his courage and skill as an oarsman at last brought 
him to the shore in safety. Proceeding at once to the house of Canonicus, 
king of the Narragansetts, he found the painted and bloody ambassadors 
of the Pequods already there. For three days and nights, at the deadly 
peril of his life, he pleaded with Canonicus and Miantonomoh to reject 
the proposals of the hostile tribe, and to stand fast in their allegiance to 
the English. His noble efforts were successful; the wavering Narra- 
gansetts voted to remain at peace, and the disappointed Pequod chiefs 
were sent away. 

7. The Mohegans also rejected the proposed alliance. Uncas, the 
sachem of that nation, not only remained faithful to the whites, but fur¬ 
nished a party of warriors to aid them against the Pequods. In the 
meantime, repeated acts of violence had roused the colony to vengeance. 
During the winter of 1636-37 many murders were committed in the 
neighborhood of Saybrook. In the following April a massacre occurred 
at Wethersfield, in which nine persons were butchered. On the 1st day 
of May the three towns of Connecticut declared war. Sixty gallant volun¬ 
teers—one-third of the whole effective force of the colony—were put under 
command of Captain John Mason of Hartford. Seventy Mohegans joined 
the expedition ; and the thoughtful Sir Henry Vane sent Captain Under¬ 
hill with twenty soldiers from Boston. 

8. The descent from Hartford to Saybrook occupied one day. On the 
20th of the month the expedition, sailing eastward, passed the mouth of 
the Thames; here was the principal seat of the Pequod nation. When 
the savages saw the squadron go by without attempting to land, they set 
up shouts of exultation, and persuaded themselves that the English were 
afraid to hazard battle. But the poor natives had sadly mistaken the 
men with whom they had to deal. The fleet proceeded quietly into 
Narragansett Bay and anchored in the harbor of Wickford. Here the 
troops landed and began their march into the country of the Pequods. 
After one day’s advance, Mason reached the cabin of Canonicus and 
Miantonomoh, sachems of the Narragansetts. Them he attempted to 
persuade to join him against the common enemy; but the wary chieftains, 
knowing the prowess of the Pequods, and fearing that the English might 
be defeated, decided to remain neutral. 

9 On the evening of the 25th of May the troops of Connecticut came 
within hearing of the Pequod fort. The unsuspecting warriors spent 


CONNECTICUT. 


127 


their last night on earth in uproar and jubilee. At two o’clock in the 
morning the English soldiers rose suddenly from their places of conceal- 


dog ran howling among the 



I C W T\ 


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1 v\ 


onVethevsfieVl 


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y \L%8TuAfHlS 

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Lost; IS LA SO 


scene of the pequod war. 


ment and rushed forward to the fort, 
wigwams, and the warriors sprang to 
arms, only to receive a deadly volley 
from the English muskets. The fear¬ 
less assailants leaped over the puny 
palisades and began the work of 
death; but the savages rose on every 
side in such numbers that Mason’s 
men were about to be overwhelmed. 
u Burn them ! burn them !” shouted 
the dauntless captain, seizing a flaming 
mat and running to the windward of 
the cabins. “ Burn them!” resounded on every side; and in a few 
minutes the dry wigwams were one sheet of crackling flame. The Eng¬ 
lish and Mohegans hastily withdrew to the ramparts. The yelling savages 
found themselves begirt with fire. They ran round and round like wild 
beasts in a burning circus. If one of the wretched creatures burst through 
the flames, it was only to meet certain death from a broadsword or a 
musket-ball. The destruction was complete and awful. Only seven 
warriors escaped; seven others were made prisoners. Six hundred men, 
women and children perished, nearly all of them being roasted to death 
in a hideous heap. Before the rising of the sun the pride and glory of 
the Pequods had passed away for ever. Sassacus, the grand sachem of 
the tribe, escaped into the forest, fled for protection to the Mohawks, and 
was murdered. Two of the English soldiers were killed and twenty 
others wounded in the battle. 

10. In the early morning three hundred Pequods, the remnant of the 
nation, approached from a second fort in the neighborhood. They had 
heard the tumult of battle, and supposed their friends victorious. To their 
utter horror, they found their fortified town in ashes and nearly all their 
proud tribe lying in one blackened pile of half-burnt flesh and bones. 
The savage warriors stamped the earth, yelled and tore their hair in 
desperate rage, and ran howling through the woods. Mason’s men re¬ 
turned by way of New London to Saybrook, and thence to Hartford. 
New troops arrived from Massachusetts. The remnants of the hostile 
nation were pursued into the swamps and thickets west of Saybrook. 
Every wigwam of the Pequods was burned, and every field laid waste. 
The remaining two hundred panting fugitives were hunted to death or 
captivity. The prisoners were distributed as servants among the Narra- 





328 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


gansetts and Mohegans; a few were sold as slaves. The first war between 
the English colonists and the natives had ended in the overthrow and 
destruction of one of the most powerful tribes of New England. For 
many years the other nations, when tempted to hostility, remembered the 
fate of the Pequods. 

11. The final capture of the Pequod fugitives was made at Fairfield, 
on Long Island Sound, fifty miles south-west from Saybrook. The Eng¬ 
lish thus became better acquainted with the coast west of the mouth of 
the Connecticut. Some men of Boston were delighted with the beautiful 
plain between the Wallingford and West Rivers. Here they tarried over 
winter, building some cabins and exploring the country; such was the 
founding of New Haven. Shortly afterward, a Puritan colony from 
England, under the leadership of Theophilus Eaton and John Davenport, 
arrived at Boston. Hearing of the beauty of the country on the sound, 
the new immigrants again set sail, and about the middle of April reached 
New Haven. On the morning of the first Sabbath after their arrival the 
colonists assembled for worship under a spreading oak; and Davenport, 
their minister, preached a touching and appropriate sermon on The 
Temptation in the Wilderness. The next care was to make an 
honorable purchase of land from the Indians—a policy which was ever 
afterward faithfully adhered to by the colony. For the first year there 
was no government except a simple covenant, into which the settlers 
entered, that all would be obedient to the rules of Scripture. 

12. In June of 1639 the leading men of New Haven held a convention 
in a barn , and formally adopted the Bible as the constitution of the State. 
Everything was strictly conformed to the religious standard. The govern¬ 
ment was called the House of Wisdom, of which Eaton, Davenport and 
five others were the seven Pillars. None but church members were ad¬ 
mitted to the rights of citizenship. All offices were to be filled by the 
votes of the freemen at an annual election. For twenty years consecu¬ 
tively, Mr. Eaton—first and greatest of the pillars—was chosen governor 
of the colony. Other settlers came, and pleasant villages sprang up on 
both shores of Long Island Sound. 

13. Civil government began in Connecticut in the year 1639. Until 
that time the Western colonies had been subject to Massachusetts, and 
had scarcely thought of independence. But when the soldiers of Hartford 
returned victorious from the Pequod war, the exulting people began to 
think of a separate commonwealth. If they could fight their own battles, 
could they not make their own laws? Delegates from the fhree towns 
came together at Hartford, and on the 14th of January a constitution was 
framed for the colony. The new instrument was one of the most simple 


CONNECTICUT . 


129 


and liberal ever adopted. An oath of allegiance to the State was the 
only qualification of citizenship. No recognition of the English king or 
of any foreign authority was required. Different religious opinions were 
alike tolerated and respected. All the officers of the colony were to be 
chosen by ballot at an annual election. The law-making power was 
vested in a general assembly, and the representatives were apportioned 
among the towns according to population. Neither Saybrook nor New 
Haven adopted this constitution, by which the other colonies in the valley 
of the Connecticut were united in a common government. 

14. In 1643, Connecticut became a member of the Union of New Eng¬ 
land. Into this confederacy New Haven was also admitted; and in the 
next year Saybrook was purchased of George Fenwick, one of the pro¬ 
prietors, and permanently annexed to Connecticut. The anticipated diffi¬ 
culties with the Dutch of New Netherland had made the colonies of the 
West anxious for a closer union with Massachusetts. The fears of the 
people were not entirely quieted until 1650, when Governor Stuyvesant 
met the commissioners of Connecticut at Hartford, and established the 
western boundary of the province. This measure promised peace; but in 
1651 war broke out between England and Holland, and notwithstanding 
the recent pledges of friendship, New England and New Netherland were 
wellnigli drawn into the conflict. Stuyvesant was suspected of inciting 
the Indians against the English; a declaration of war was proposed be¬ 
fore the delegates of the united colonies, and was only prevented from 
passing by the veto of Massachusetts. Left without support, Connecticut 
and New Haven next sought aid from Cromwell, who entered heartily 
into the project and sent out a fleet to co-operate with the colonists in the 
reduction of New Netherland. But while the western towns were busily 
preparing for war, the news of peace arrived, and hostilities were happily 
averted. 

15. On the restoration of monarchy in England, Connecticut made 
haste to recognize King Charles as rightful sovereign. It was as much 
an act of sound policy as of loyal zeal. The people of the Connecticut 
valley were eager for a royal charter. They had conquered the Pequods; 
they had bought the lands of the Mohegans; they had purchased the 
claims of the earl of Warwick; it only remained to secure all these 
acquisitions with a patent from the king. The infant republic selected 
its best and truest man, the scholarly younger Winthrop, and sent him 
as ambassador to London. He bore with him a charter which had been 
carefully prepared by the authorities of Hartford; the problem was to 
induce the king to sign it. 

16. The aged Lord Say-and-Seal, for many years the friend and bene- 


130 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


THE YOUNGER WINTHROP. 



factor of the colony, was now an important officer of the Crown. To him 
Wmthrop delivered a letter, unfolded his plans and appealed for help; 
and the appeal was not in vain. The earl of Manchester, lord chamber- 
lain to the king, was induced to lend his aid. Winthrop easily obtained 
an audience with the sovereign, and did not fail to show him a ring 
which Charles I. had given as a pledge of friendship to Wmthrop s 
grandfather. The little token so moved the wayward monarch’s feelings 

that in a moment 
of careless mag¬ 
nanimity he signed 
the colonial charter 
without the alter¬ 
ation of a letter. 
Winthrop returned 
to the rejoicing col¬ 
ony, bearing a pat¬ 
ent the most liberal 
and ample ever 
granted by an Eng¬ 
lish monarch. The 
power of govern¬ 
ing themselves was 
conferred on the 
people- without 
qualification or re¬ 
striction. Every 
right of sovereign¬ 
ty and of inde¬ 
pendence, except 
the name, was con¬ 
ceded to the new State. The territory included under the charter ex¬ 
tended from the bay and river of the Narragansetts westward to the 
Pacific. The people who had built the House of Wisdom at New 
Haven now found themselves the unwilling subjects of the new com¬ 
monwealth of Connecticut. 

17. For fourteen years the excellent Winthrop was annually chosen 
governor of the colony. Every year added largely to the population and 
wealth of the province. The civil and religious institutions were the 
freest and best in New England. Peace reigned; the husbandman was 
undisturbed in the field, the workman in his shop. Even during King 
Philip’s War, Connecticut was saved from invasion. Not a war-whoop 


CONNECTICUT\ 


131 


was heard, not a hamlet burned, not a life lost, within her borders. Her 
soldiers made common cause with their brethren of Massachusetts and 
Rhode Island; but their own homes were saved from the desolations 
of war. 

18. In July of 1675, Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of ]S T ew York, 
arrived with an armed sloop at the mouth of the Connecticut. Orders 
were sent to Captain Bull, who commanded the fort at Say brook, to sur¬ 
render his post; but the brave captain replied by hoisting the flag of 
England and assuring the bearer of the message that his master would 
better retire. Andros, however, landed and came to a parley with the 
officers of the fort. He began to read his commission, but was ordered 
to stop. In vain did the arrogant magistrate insist that the dominions 
of the duke of York extended from the Connecticut to the Delaware. 
“ Connecticut has her own charter, signed by His Gracious Majesty King 
Charles II.,” said Captain Bull. u Leave off your reading, or take the 
consequences!” The argument prevailed, and the red-coated governor, 
trembling with rage, was escorted to his boat by a company of Say brook 
militia. 

19. In 1686, when Andros was made royal governor of New England, 
Connecticut was again included in his jurisdiction. The first year of his 
administration was spent in establishing his authority in Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island and New Hampshire. In the following October he made 
his famous visit to Hartford. On the day of his arrival he invaded the 
provincial assembly while in session, seized the book of minutes, and with 
his own hand wrote Finis at the bottom of the page. He demanded the 
immediate surrender of the colonial charter. Governor Treat pleaded 
long and earnestly for the preservation of the precious document. Andros 
was inexorable. The shades of evening fell. The tradition has been 
related of how Joseph Wadsworth found in the gathering darkness 
an opportunity to conceal the cherished parchment. Two years later, 
when the government of Andros was overthrown, Connecticut made 
haste to restore her liberties. 

20. In the autumn of 1693, another attempt was made to subvert the 
freedom of the colony. Fletcher, the governor of New York, went to 
Hartford to assume command of the militia of the province. He bore 
a commission from King William; but by the terms of the charter the 
right of commanding the troops was vested in the colony itself. The 
general assembly refused to recognize the authority of Fletcher, who, 
nevertheless, ordered the soldiers under arms and proceeded to read his 
commission as colonel. “ Beat the drums!” shouted Captain Wadsworth, 
who stood at the head of the company. “ Silence!” said Fletcher; the 


132 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


drums ceased, and the reading began again. “ Drum! drum !” cried 
Wadsworth; and a second time the voice of the reader was drowned 
in the uproar. “ Silence! silence !” shouted the enraged governor. The 
dauntless Wadsworth stepped before the ranks and said, “ Colonel 
Fletcher, if I am interrupted again, I will let the sunshine through your 
body in an instant.” That ended the controversy. Benjamin Fletcher 
thought it better to be a living governor of New York than a dead 
coloiiel of the Connecticut militia. 

21. “ I give these books for the founding of a college in this colony.” 
Such were the words of ten ministers who, in the year 1700, assembled at 
the village of Branford, a few miles east of New Haven. Each of the 
worthy fathers, as he uttered the words, deposited a few volumes on the 
table around which they were sitting; such was the founding of Yale 
College. In 1702 the school was formally opened at Saybrook, where 
it continued for fifteen years, and was then removed to New Haven. 
One of the most liberal patrons of the college was Elilm Yale, from whom 
the famous institution of learning derived its name. Common schools 
had existed in almost every village of Connecticut since the planting 
of the colony. The children of the Pilgrims have never forgotten the 
cause of education. 

22. The half century preceding the French and Indian war was a 
period of prosperity to all the western districts of New England. Con¬ 
necticut was especially favored. Almost unbroken peace reigned through¬ 
out her borders. The blessings of a free commonwealth were realized in 
full measure. The farmer reaped his fields in cheerfulness and hope. 
The mechanic made glad his dusty shop with anecdote and song. The 
merchant feared no duty, the villager no taxes. Want was unknown and 
pauperism unheard of. Wealth was little cared for and crime of rare 
occurrence among a people with whom intelligence and virtue were the 
only foundations of nobility. With fewer dark pages in her history, less 
austerity of manners and greater liberality of sentiment, Connecticut had 
all the lofty purposes and shining virtues of Massachusetts. The visions 
of Hooker and Haynes, and the dreams of the quiet Winthrop, were more 
than realized in the happy homes of the Connecticut valley. 


RHODE ISLAND. 


133 


CHAPTER VII. 

RHODE ISLAND. 

TT was in June of 1636 that the exiled Roger Williams left the country 
-L of the Wampanoags and passed down the Seekonk to Narragansett 
River. His object was to secure a safe retreat beyond the limits of Ply¬ 
mouth colony. He, with his five companions, landed on the western 
bank, at a place called Moshassuck, purchased the soil of the Narragansett 
sachems, and laid the foundations of Providence. Other exiles joined the 
company. New farms were laid out, new fields were ploughed and new 
houses built; here, at last, was found at Providence Plantation a 
refuge for all the distressed and persecuted. 

2. The leader of the new colony was a native of Wales; born in 1606 ; 
liberally educated at Cambridge ; the pupil of Sir Edward Coke; in after 
years the friend of Milton; a dissenter; a hater of ceremonies; a disciple 
•of truth in its purest forms; an uncompromising advocate of freedom; 
exiled to Massachusetts, and now exiled by Massachusetts, he brought 
to the banks of the Narragansett the great doctrines of perfect religious 
liberty and the equal rights of men. If the area of Rhode Island had 
corresponded with the grandeur of the principles on which she was 
founded, who could have foretold her destiny ? 

3. Roger Williams belonged to that most radical body of dissenters 
called Anabaptists. By them the validity of infant baptism was denied. 
Williams himself had been baptized in infancy; but his views in regard 
to the value of the ceremony had undergone a change during his ministry 
at Salem. Now that he had freed himself from all foreign authority both 
of Church and State, he conceived it to be his duty to receive a second 
baptism. But who should perform the ceremony ? Ezekiel Holliman, 
a layman, was selected for the sacred duty. Williams meekly received 
the rite at the hands of his friend, and then in turn baptized him and ten 
other exiles of the colony. Such was the organization of the first 
Baptist Church in America. 

4. The beginning of civil government in Rhode Island was equally 
simple and democratic. Mr. Williams was the natural ruler of the little 
province, but he reserved for himself neither wealth nor privilege. The 


134 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


lands which he purchased from Canonicus and Miantonomoh were freely 
distributed among the colonists. Only two small fields, to be planted 
and tilled with his own hands, were kept by the benevolent founder for 
himself. How different from the grasping avarice of Wingfield and Lord 
. Cornbury ! All the powers of the colonial government were entrusted to 
the people. A simple agreement was made and signed by the settlers that 
in all matters not affecting the conscience they would yield a cheerful 
obedience to such rules as the majority might make for the public welfare. 
In questions of religion the individual conscience should be to every man 
a guide. When Massachusetts objected that such a democracy would leave 
nothing for the magistrates to do, Rhode Island answered that magistrates 
were wellnigh useless. 

5. The new government stood the test of experience. The evil prophe¬ 
cies of its enemies were unfulfilled; instead of predicted turmoil and dis¬ 
sension, Providence Plantation had nothing but peace and quiet. It was 
found that all religious sects could live together in harmony, and that 
difference of opinion was not a bar to friendship. All beliefs were wel¬ 
come at Narragansett Bay. A Buddhist from Japan or a pagan from 
Madagascar would have been received at Providence and cordially enter¬ 
tained. Miantonomoh, the young sachem of the Narragansetts, loved 
Roger Williams as a brother. It was the confidence of this chieftain that 
enabled Williams to notify Massachusetts of the Pequod conspiracy, and 
then at the hazard of his life to defeat the plans of the hostile nation. 
This magnanimous act awakened the old affections of his friends at Salem 
and Plymouth, and an effort was made to recall him and his fellow-exiles 
from banishment. It was urged that a man of such gracious abilities, so 
full of patience and charity, could never be dangerous in a State ; but his 
enemies answered that the principles and teachings of Williams would 
subvert the commonwealth and bring Massachusetts to ruin. The pro¬ 
posal was rejected. The ancient Greeks sometimes recalled their exiled 
heroes from banishment; the colony of Massachusetts, never. 

6. During the Pequod war of 1637, Rhode Island was protected by the 
friendly Narragansetts. The territory of this powerful tribe lay between 
Providence and the country of the Pequods, and there was little fear of 
an invasion. The next year was noted for the arrival of Mrs. Hutchinson 
and her friends at the island of Rhode Island. The leaders of the com¬ 
pany were John Clarke and William Coddington. It had been their 
intention to conduct the colony to Long Island, or perhaps to the country 
of the Delaware. But Roger Williams made haste to welcome them 
to his province, where no man’s conscience might be distressed. Gov¬ 
ernor Vane of Massachusetts, sympathizing with the refugees, prevailed 


RHODE ISLAND. 


135 



with Miantonomoh to make them a gift of Rhode Island. Here, in the 
early spring of 1638, the colony was planted. The first settlement was 
made at Portsmouth, in the 
northern part of the island. 

Other exiles came to join their 
friends, and civil government 
was thought desirable. The 
Jewish nation furnished the 
model. William Coddington 
was chosen judge in the new 
Israel of Narragansett Bay, 
and three elders were ap¬ 
pointed to assist him in the 
government. In the follow¬ 
ing year the title of judge 
gave way to that of governor, 
and the administration be¬ 
came more modern in its 
methods. At the same time 
a party of colonists removed 
from Portsmouth, already 
crowded with exiles, to the 

south-western part of the island, and laid the foundations of Newport. 
Hither had come, more than six hundred years before, the hardy adven¬ 
turers of Iceland. Here had been a favorite haunt of the wayward sea- 
kings of the eleventh century. Here, in sight of the new settlement, 
stood the old stone tower, the most celebrated monument left by the 
Norsemen in America. 

7. The island was soon peopled. The want of civil government began 
to be felt as a serious inconvenience. Mr. Coddington’s new Israel had 
proved an utter failure. In March of 1641 a public meeting was con¬ 
vened ; the citizens came together on terms of perfect equality, and the 
task of framing a constitution was undertaken. In three days the instru¬ 
ment was completed. The government was declared to be a “ Demo¬ 
cracies or government by the people. The supreme authority was 
lodged with the whole body of freemen in the island; and freemen, in 
this instance, meant everybody. The vote of the majority should always 
rule. No soul should be distressed on account of religious doctrine. 
Liberty of conscience, even in the smallest particular, should be uni¬ 
versally respected. A seal of State was ordered, having for its design 
a sheaf of arrows and a motto of Amor vincet omnia. The little 


THE OLD STONE TOWER AT NEWPORT. 












136 


HISTORY OF THE UNITER STATES. 


republic of Narragansett Bay was named the Plantation of Rhode 
Island. 

8. In 1643 was formed the Union of New England. Providence and 
Rhode Island both pleaded for admission, and both were rejected. The 
meaning of this illiberal action on the part of the older and more power¬ 
ful colonies was that the settlements on the Narragansett belonged to the 
jurisdiction of Plymouth. Alarmed at the prospect of being again put 
under the dominion of their persecutors, the exiled republicans of Rhode 
Island determined to appeal to the English government for a charter. 
Roger Williams was accordingly appointed agent of the two plantations 
and sent to London. He was cordially received by his old and steadfast 
friend Sir Henry Wane, now an influential member of Parliament. The 
plea of Rhode Island was heard with favor; and on the 14th of March 
in the following year the coveted charter was granted. Great was the 
rejoicing when the successful ambassador returned to his people. The 
grateful colonists met their benefactor at Seekonk, and conducted him to 
Providence with shouts and exultation. Rhode Island had secured her 
independence. 

9. The first general assembly of the province was convened at Ports¬ 
mouth, in 1647. The new government was organized in strict accordance 
with the provisions of the charter. A code of laws was framed; the 
principles of democracy were reaffirmed, and full religious toleration and 
freedom of conscience guaranteed to all. A president and subordinate 
officers were chosen, and Rhode Island began her career as an independent 
colony. 

10. Once the integrity of the province was endangered. In 1651, 
William Coddington, who had never been satisfied with the failure of his 
Jewish commonwealth, succeeded in obtaining from the English council 
of state a decree by which the island of Rhode Island was separated from 
the common government. But the zealous protests of John Clarke and 
Roger Williams, who went a second time to London, prevented the dis¬ 
union, and the decree of separation was revoked. The grateful people 
now desired that their magnanimous benefactor should be commissioned 
by the English council as governor of the province; but the blind grat¬ 
itude of his friends could not prevail over the wisdom of the prudent 
leader. He foresaw the danger, and refused the tempting commission. 
Roger Williams was proof against all the seductions of ambition. 

11. The faithful Clarke remained in England to guard the interests of 
the colony. It was not long until his services were greatly needed. The 
restoration of monarchy occurred in 1660. Charles II. came home in 
triumph from his long exile. Rhode Island had accepted a charter from 


RHODE ISLAND. 


137 


the Long Parliament; that Parliament had driven Charles I. from his 
throne, had made war upon him, beaten him in battle, imprisoned him, 
beheaded him. Was it likely that the son of that monarch would allow a 
colonial charter issued by the Long Parliament to stand? Would he not 
with vindictive scorn dash the patent of the little republic out of exist¬ 
ence ? The people of Rhode Island had hardly the courage to plead for the 
preservation of their liberty; but taking heart, they wrote a loyal petition 
to the new sovereign, praying for the renewal of their charter. To their in¬ 
finite delight, and to the wonder of after times, the king listened with favor; 
Clarendon, the minister, assented; and on the 8th of July, 1663, the 
charter was reissued. The freedom of the colony was in no wise restricted. 
All the liberal provisions of the parliamentary patent were revived. Not 
even an oath of allegiance was required of the people. 

12. On the 24th of November the island of Rhode Island was thronged 
with people. George Baxter had come with the charter. Opening the 
box that contained it, he held aloft the precious parchment. There, sure 
enough, was the signature of King Charles II. There was His Majesty’s 
royal stamp; there was the broad seal of England. The charter was read 
aloud to the joyful people. The little “democracie” of Rhode Island 
was fcafe. The happy colonists were not to blame when they bdgan their 
letter of thanks as follows: “To King Charles of England, for his high 
and inestimable—yea, incomparable—favor.” 

13. For nearly a quarter of a century Rhode Island prospered. The 
distresses of King Philip’s War were forgotten. Roger Williams grew 
old and died. At last came Sir Edmund Andros, the enemy of New 
England. After overthrowing the liberties of Massachusetts, he next 
demanded the surrender of the charter of Rhode Island. The demand 
was for a while evaded by Governor Walter Clarke and the colonial as¬ 
sembly. But Andros, not to be thwarted, repaired to Newport, dissolved 
the government and broke the seal of the colony. Five irresponsible 
councilors were appointed.to control the affairs of the province, and the 
commonwealth was in ruins. 

14. But the usurpation was as brief as it was shameful. In the spring 
of 1689 the news was borne to Rhode Island that James II. had abdi¬ 
cated the throne of England, and that Andros and his officers were pris¬ 
oners at Boston. On May-day the people rushed to Newport and made 
a proclamation of their gratitude for the great deliverance. Walter Clarke 
was reelected governor, but was fearful of accepting. Almy was elected, 
and also declined. Then an old Quaker, named Henry Bull, more than 
eighty years of age, was chosen. He was one of the founders of the colony. 
He had known Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams. Should he, in 


138 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES . 


his gray hairs, through fear and timidity, refuse the post of danger? The 
old veteran accepted the trust, and spent his last days in restoring the 
liberties of Rhode Island. 

15. Again the little State around the Bay of Narragansett was pros¬ 
perous. For more than fifty years the peace of the colony was undis¬ 
turbed. The principles of the illustrious founder became the principles 
of the commonwealth. The renown of Rhode Island has not been in 
vastness of territory, in mighty cities or victorious armies, but in a stead¬ 
fast devotion to truth, justice and freedom. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

I N the year 1622 the territory lying between the rivers Merrimac and 
Kennebec, reaching from the sea to the St. Lawrence, was granted 
by the council of Plymouth to Sir Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason. 
The history of New Hampshire begins with the following year. For the 
proprietors made haste to secure their new domain by actual settlements. 
In the early spring of 1623 two small companies of colonists were sent 
out by Mason and Gorges to people their province. The coast of New 
Hampshire had first been visited by Martin Pring in 1603. Eleven 
years later the restless Captain Smith explored the spacious harbor at 
the mouth of the Piscataqua, and spoke with delight of the deep and 
tranquil waters. 

2. One party of the new immigrants landed at Little Harbor, two 
miles south of the present site of Portsmouth, and began to build a village. 
The other party proceeded up stream, entered the Cocheco, and, four miles 
above the mouth of that tributary, laid the foundations of Dover. With 
the exception of Plymouth and Weymouth, Portsmouth and Dover are 
the oldest towns in New England. But the progress of the settlements 
was slow; for many years the two villages were only fishing-stations. 
In 1629 the proprietors divided their dominions, Gorges retaining the 
part north of the Piscataqua, and Mason taking exclusive control of the 
district between the Piscataqua and the Merrimac. In May of this year, 
Rev. John Wheelwright, who soon afterward became a leader in the party 
of Anne Hutchinson, visited the Abenaki chieftains, and purchased their 




NEW HAMPSHIRE. 


139 


claims to the soil of the whole territory held by Mason; but in the fol¬ 
lowing November, Mason’s title was confirmed by a second patent from 
the council, and the name of the province was changed from Laconia to 
New Hampshire. Very soon Massachusetts began to urge her chartered 
rights to the district north of the Merrimac; already the claims to the 
jurisdiction of the new colony were numerous and conflicting. 

3. In November of 1635, Mason died, and his widow undertook the 
government of the province. But the expenses of the colony were greater 
than the revenues; the chief tenants could not be paid for their services; 
and after a few years of mismanagement the territory was given up to the 
servants and dependents of the late proprietor. Such was the condition 
of affairs when Mrs. Hutchinson and her friends were banished from 
Boston. Wheelwright, who was of the number, now found use for the 
lands which he had purchased in New Hampshire. When Clarke and 
Coddington, leading the greater number of the exiles, set out for Rhode 
Island, Wheelwright, with a small party of friends, repaired to the banks 
of the Piscataqua. At the head of tide-water on that stream they halted, 
and founded the village of Exeter. The little colony was declared a 
republic, established on the principle of equal right and universal toler¬ 
ation. 

4. The proposition to unite New Hampshire with Massachusetts was 
received with favor by the people of both colonies. The liberal provisions 
of the Body of Liberties, adopted by the older province in 1641, excited 
the villagers of the Piscataqua, and made them anxious to join the desti¬ 
nies of the free commonwealth of Massachusetts. A union was immedi¬ 
ately proposed; on the 14th of the following April terms of consolidation 
were agreed on, and New Hampshire, by the act of her own people, was 
united with the older colony. It is worthy of special notice that the law 
of Massachusetts restricting the rights of citizenship to church members 
was not extended over the new province. The people of Portsmouth and 
Dover belonged to the Church of England, and it was deemed unjust to 
discriminate against them on account of their religion. New Hampshire 
was the only colony east of the Hudson not originally founded by the 
Puritans. 

5. The union continued in force until 1679. In the mean time the 
heirs of Mason had revived the -elaim of the old proprietor of the province. 
The cause had been duly investigated in the courts of England, and in 
1677 a decision was reached that the Masonian claims were invalid as to 
the civil jurisdiction of New Hampshire, but valid as to the soil —that is, the 
heirs were the lawful owners, but not the lawful governors, of the territory. 
It was evident from the character of this decision that King Charles in- 


140 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


tended to assert his own right of government over New Hampshire, and 
at the same time to confer the ownership of the soil upon the represent¬ 
atives of Mason. Nor was the province long left in doubt as to the king’s 
intentions. On the 24th of July, 1679, a decree was published by which 
New Hampshire was separated from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts and 
organized as a distinct royal province. The excuse was that the claims 
of the Masons against the farmers of New Hampshire would have to be 
determined in colonial courts, and that colonial courts could not be estab¬ 
lished without the organization of a separate colony. It was clearly fore¬ 
seen that in such trials the courts of Massachusetts would always decide 
against the Masons. The purpose of the king became still more apparent 
when Robert Mason, himself the largest claimant of all, was allowed to 
nominate a governor for the province: Edward Cranfield was selected for 
that office. 

6. The people of New Hampshire were greatly excited by the threatened 
destruction of their liberties. Before Cranfield’s arrival the rugged saw¬ 
yers and lumbermen of the Piscataqua had convened a general assembly 
at Portsmouth. The first resolution which was passed by the represent¬ 
atives showed the spirit of colonial resistance in full force. u No act, im¬ 
position, law or ordinance,” said the sturdy legislators, u shall be valid 
unless made by the assembly and approved by the people.” When the 
indignant king heard of this resolution, he declared it to be both wicked 
and absurd. It was not the first time that a monarch and his people had 
disagreed. 

7. In November of 1682, Cranfield dismissed the popular assembly. 
Such a despotic act had never before been attempted in New England. 
The excitement ran high; the governor was openly denounced, and his 
claims for rents and forfeitures were stubbornly resisted. At Exeter the 
sheriff was beaten with clubs. The farmers’ wives met the tax-gatherers 
with pailfulls of hot water. At the village of Hampton, Cranfield’s 
deputy was led out of town with a rope round his neck. When the 
governor ordered out the militia, not a man obeyed the summons. It was 
in the midst of these broils that Cranfield, unable to collect his rents and 
vexed out of his wits, wrote to England begging for the privilege of going 
home. The “ unreasonable ” people who were all the time caviling at his 
commission and denying his authority were at length freed from his 
presence. 

8. An effort was now made to restore New Hampshire to the jurisdiction 
of Massachusetts; but before this could be done the charter of the latter 
province had been taken away and Edmund Andros appointed governor 
of all New England. The colonies north of the Merrimac, seeing that 


NEW HAMPSHIRE. 


141 


even Massachusetts had been brought to submission, offered no resistance 
to Andros, but quietly yielded to his authority. Until the English revo¬ 
lution of 1688, and the consequent downfall of Andros, New Hampshire 
remained under the dominion of the royal governor. But when he was 
seized and imprisoned by the citizens of Boston, the people of the northern 
towns also rose in rebellion and reasserted their freedom. A general as¬ 
sembly was convened at Portsmouth in the spring of 1690, and an ordi¬ 
nance was at once passed reannexing New Hampshire to Massachusetts. 
But in August of 1692 this action was annulled by the English govern¬ 
ment, and the two provinces were a second time separated against the 
protests of the people. In 1698, when the earl of Bellomont came out as 
royal governor of New T ork, his commission was made to include both 
Massachusetts and New Hampshire. For a period of forty-two years the 
two provinces, though retaining their separate legislative assemblies, con¬ 
tinued under the authority of a common executive. Not until 1741 was 
a final separation effected between the colonies north and south of the 
Merrimac. 

9. Meanwhile, the heirs of Mason, embarrassed with delays and vexed 
by opposing claimants, had sold to Samuel Allen, of London, their title 
to New Hampshire. To him, in 1691, the old Masonian patent was 
transferred. His son-in-law, named Usher, a land speculator of Boston, 
was appointed deputy governor. The new proprietor made a long and 
futile effort to enforce his claim to the lands of the province, but was every¬ 
where resisted. Lawsuits were begun in the colonial courts, but no 
judgments could be obtained against the occupants of lands; all efforts to 
drive the farmers into the payment of rents or the surrender of their 
homes were unavailing. For many years the history of New Hampshire 
contains little else than a record of strife and contention. Finally, Allen 
died; and in 1715, after a struggle of a quarter of a century, his heirs 
abandoned their claim in despair. A few years afterward one of the de¬ 
scendants of Mason discovered that the deed which his kinsmen had made 
to Allen was defective. The original Masonian patent was accordingly 
revived, and a last effort was made to secure possession of the province, 
but was all in vain. The colonial government had now grown strong 
enough to defend the rights of its people, and the younger Masons were 
obliged to abandon their pretensions. In the final adjustment of this 
long-standing difficulty the colonial authorities allowed the validity of 
the Masonian patent as to the unoccupied portions of the territory, and 
the heirs made a formal surrender of their claims to all the rest. 

10. Of all the New England colonies, New Hampshire suffered most 
from the French and Indian Wars. Her settlements were feeble, and her 


142 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


territory most exposed to savage invasion. In the last year of King 
Philip’s War the suffering along the frontier of the province was very 
great. Again, in the wars of William, Anne and George, the villages of 
the northern colony were visited with devastation and ruin. But in the 
intervals of peace the spirits of the people revived, and the hardy settlers 
returned to their wasted farms to begin anew the struggle of life. Out 
of these conflicts and trials came that sturdy and resolute race of pioneers 
who bore such a heroic part in the greater contests of after years. 


RECAPITULATION. 


CHAPTEE I. 

The Pilgrims are saved by the coming of spring.—Health is restored.—Miles Standish 
is sent out to reconnoitre.—Samoset and Squanto come to Plymouth.—A treaty is made 
with Massasoit.—Other tribes acknowledge the sovereignty of England.—Canonicus is 
overawed.—An unfruitful summer.—Immigrants arrive.—Are quartered on the colony. 
—The Pilgrims are destitute.—The new-comers found Weymouth.—The Indians plan 
a massacre.—And are punished by Standish.—Weymouth is abandoned.—A plentiful 
harvest.—Eobinson remains at Leyden.—The colonial enterprise proves unprofitable.— 
The managers sell out to the colonists.—The Established Church is favored.—Salem is 
founded.—The Company of Massachusetts Bay is chartered by the king and the council. 
—Boston is founded.—The government is transferred to America.—A large immigration 
in 1630.—Winthrop is governor.—Cambridge is founded.—Watertown.—Eoxbury.— 
Dorchester.—The colony suffers greatly.—Suffrage is restricted.—Williams protests.— 
And is banished.—Goes among the Indians.—Is kindly received.—Tarries at Seekonk.— 
Eemoves.—And founds Providence.—A representative government is established.—The 
ballot-box is introduced.—Three thousand immigrants arrive.—Vane and Peters are the 
leaders.—Concord is founded.—Colonies remove to the Connecticut.—Eeligious contro¬ 
versies.—Mrs. Hutchinson is banished.—She and her friends establish a republic on 
Ehode Island.—Harvard College is founded at Cambridge.—A printing-press is set up. 
—Eliot, Welde and Mather translate the Psalms.—Liberty flourishes in Massachusetts. 
—Emigration is hindered by England. 

CHAPTEE II. 

Prograss of New England.—Circumstances favor a union of the colonies.—Massa¬ 
chusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven are confederated.—No other colonies 
are admitted.—A Body of Liberties is formed.—The two legislative branches are sepa¬ 
rated.—The English Eevolution is favorable to New England.—Vane and others defend 
the rights of the colonies.—The Parliament demands the charter of Massachusetts.— 
Which is refused.—Cromwell the friend of Massachusetts.—Maine is annexed.—Early 
settlements in Maine.—The Quakers arrive at Boston.—Are persecuted and banished.—• 
The death-penalty is passed against them.—Four persons are executed.—Beaction against 




RECAPITULA TION. 


143 


the law. And the law is abolished.—News of the Restoration reaches Boston.—Whalley 
and Goffe arrive.—And escape to Connecticut.—Vane and Peters are executed.—The 
Navigation Act is passed.—Its bearing on the commerce of New England.—War be¬ 
tween England and Holland.—Charles II. attempts to subvert the colonial charters.— 
Commissioners are sent to Massachusetts.—Are met with resistance.—And defeated in 
their objects.—The colony prospers. 


CHAPTER HI. 

Philip becomes king of the Wampanoags.—Causes of jealousy and war.—Alexander’s 
imprisonment.—Outrages are committed.—The war begins.—Swanzey is attacked.— 
Philip is pursued to Mount Hope.—Escapes to Tiverton.—Is driven from the Narra- 
gansett country.—Goes to the Nipmucks.—A general war ensues.—The Narragansetts 
are obliged to remain neutral—English ambassadors are massacred at Brookfield—The 
town is attacked.—Rescued.—Abandoned.—Burned.—Deerfield is partly destroyed.— 
Lathrop attempts to bring off the harvests.—Is ambushed at Bloody Brook.—The battle. 

Hadley is attacked.—Rescued by Goffe.—Springfield is assaulted.—And destroyed.— 
Hadley is burned.—The savages are defeated at Hatfield.—Philip repairs to the Narra¬ 
gansetts.—The English declare war.—And invade the country.— Philip and his forces 
take refuge in a swamp.—Are surrounded.—Attacked.—And utterly routed.—Ruin of 
the Narragansett nation.—The war continues on the frontiers.—Towns and villages are 
destroyed.—The savages grow feeble.—Canonchet is taken.—And put to death.—Philip’s 
family are captured.—And sold as slaves.—Himself hunted down.—And shot.—Sub¬ 
mission of the tribes.—Losses of New England.—The English government refuses help. 
—Randolph comes to abridge the liberties of Massachusetts.—And is defeated.—Massa¬ 
chusetts purchases Maine of the heirs of Gorges.—Difficulties concerning New Hamp¬ 
shire.—A royal government is established in the province.—Cranfield’s administration.— 
The king’s hostility.—The charter of Massachusetts is annulled.—King Charles dies.— 
James II. appoints Dudley governor.—And then Andros.—The liberties of the people 
are destroyed.—The government of Andros is extended over New England.—But the 
charter of Connecticut is saved.—The Revolution of 1688.—Andros is seized, and im¬ 
prisoned.—And the colonies restore their liberties. 

CHAPTER IV. 

King William’s War begins.—The causes.—Dover is attacked and burned.—Pemaquid 
is destroyed.—And then Schenectady.—And Salmon Falls.—An expedition is planned 
against Canada.—Phipps takes Port Royal.—But fails at Quebec.—And returns.—Paper 
money is issued.—Failure of the expedition against Montreal.—Phipps goes to England. 
—And returns as royal governor.—Oyster River is destroyed.—Haverhill is attacked 
and burned.—Mrs. Dustin’s captivity.—The treaty of Ryswick.—The witchcraft excite¬ 
ment begins at Salem.—The causes.—Parris and Mather.—The trials.—Convictions.— 
Executions.—The reaction.—Mather’s book.—Reflection. 


CHAPTER V. 

Causes of Queen Anne’s War.—Field of operations in America.—A treaty is made with 
the Five Nations.—The conflict begins.—Deerfield is burned.—And the inhabitants car¬ 
ried captive to Canada.—Barbarities of the Indians.—An expedition is sent against Port 
Koval.—The attempt fails.—Is renewed in 1710.—Port Royal is taken.—And named 

10 


144 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Annapolis.—Preparations are made for invading Canada.—Nicholson commands the 
land forces.—And Walker the fleet.—The squadron is delayed.—Stops at Gaspe Bay.— 
Is shattered by a storm in the St. Lawrence.—Returns in disgrace.—The expedition by 
land is abandoned.—A treaty is made at Utrecht.—A separate peace is concluded with 
the Indians.—The people of Massachusetts resist the royal governor.—Causes of King 
George’s War.—The conflict begins.—Importance of Louisburg.—Its conquest is planned 
by Shirley.—The colonies contribute men and means.—The expedition leaves Boston.— 
Is detained at Canseau.—Joined by Warren’s fleet.—Reaches Gabarus Bay.—Invests 
Louisburg.—The siege.—The surrender.—Cape Breton submits.—France attempts to 
reconquer Louisburg.—Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.—Character of the Puritans. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Connecticut is granted to Warwick—And transferred to Say-and-Seal.—The Dutch 
fortify Hartford.—The Puritans claim the country. —Send an expedition up the Con¬ 
necticut.—Found Windsor.—A colony leaves Boston.—Settles on the Connecticut.— 
Winthrop founds Saybrook.—The English control the river.—The Pequod War.—The 
Narragansetts make a treaty with the English.—The Pequods do likewise.—Violate the 
compact.—Attempt an alliance with the Narragansetts.—Williams defeats the project.— 
The Mohegans join the English.—A massacre at Wethersfield.—Mason is chosen to 
command.—A force is organized.—Proceeds against the Pequods.—And destroys the 
nation.—The coast of Long Island Sound is explored.—New Haven is founded.—The 
Bible for a constitution.—Civil government begins in Connecticut.—Character of the 
laws.—Connecticut joins the Union.—Saybrook is annexed.—A treaty is made with 
Stuyvesant.—War with New Netherland is threatened.—King Charles is recognized. 
—Winthrop is sent to England.—Obtains a charter.—Returns.—Is chosen governor.— 
Growtli of the colony.—Andros attempts to assume the government.—Is thwarted at 
Saybrook.—Returns after twelve years.—Invades the assembly at Hartford.—Subverts 
the government.—The charter is saved.—Fletcher enters the colony.—Is baffled by 
Wadsworth.—Yale College is founded.—Development of the province.—Reflections. 

CHAPTER VIL 

Williams founds Rhode Island.—Sketch of his life.—The Baptist Church is organized. 
—Civil government begins.—Character of the institutions.—Massachusetts refuses to 
recall Williams from exile.—A colony at Portsmouth.—The Jewish commonwealth.— 
Newport is founded.—The Norse tower.—A democracy is established.—Rhode Island 
is rejected by the Union.—Williams procures a charter.—The island of Rhode Island 
secedes.—Is reannexed.—Patriotism of Williams.—Charles II. reissues the charter.— 
Prosperity of Rhode Island.—Andros overturns the government.—Is overthrown.— 
Henry Bull is governor.—Reflections. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

New Hampshire is granted to Gorges and Mason.—And colonized.—Settlements on 
the Piscataqua.—The province is divided.—Wheelwright purchases the Indian title.— 
Mason’s patent is confirmed.—He dies.—Difficulties ensue.—Exeter is founded.—New 
Hampshire is united with Massachusetts.—The Masonian claim is revived.—The ques¬ 
tion is decided.—The two provinces are separated.—Cranfield is appointed governor.—- 
A general assembly is convened.—Character of the laws.—The royal officers are resisted. 
—Andros assumes the government.—New Hampshire and Massachusetts are united.— 
Governed by Bellomont.—Finally separated.—The Masonian claim again.—How de¬ 
cided.—Suffering of the colony in the Indian wars.—Character of the people. 


COLONIAL HISTORY. —Continued. 

A. I>. 1014—1754. 

MIDDLE COLONIES. 

CHAPTER I. 

NEW YORK. 

TTIOR ten years after the founding of New Amsterdam the colony was 
-L governed by directors. These officers were appointed and sent out 
by the Dutch East India Company, in accordance with the charter of that 
corporation. The settlement on Manhattan Island was as yet only a vil¬ 
lage of traders. Not until 1623 was an actual colony sent from Holland 
to New Netherland. Two years previously, the Dutch West India Com¬ 
pany had been organized, with the exclusive privilege of planting settle¬ 
ments in America. The charter of this company was granted for a period 
of twenty-four years, with the privilege of renewal; and the territory to 
be colonized extended from the Strait of Magellan to Hudson’s Bay. 
Manhattan Island, with its cluster of huts, passed at once under the con¬ 
trol of the new corporation. 

2. In April of 1623, the ship New Netherland, having on board a 
colony of thirty families, arrived at New Amsterdam. The colonists, 
called Walloons, were Dutch Protestant refugees from Flanders, in 
Belgium. They were of the same religious faith with the Huguenots of 
France, and came to America to find repose from the persecutions of their 
own country. Cornelius May was the leader of the company. The 
greater number of the new immigrants settled with their friends on Man¬ 
hattan Island; but the captain, with a party of fifty, passing down the 
coast of New Jersey, entered and explored the Bay of Delaware. Sailing 
up the bay and river, the company landed on the eastern shore; here, at 
a point a few miles below Camden, where Timber Creek falls into the 
Delaware, a site was selected and a block-house built named Fort Nassau. 
The natives were won over by kindness; and when shortly after the fort 
was abandoned and the settlers returned to New Amsterdam, the Indians 
witnessed their departure with affectionate regret. In the same year 
Joris, another Dutch captain, ascended the Hudson to Castle Island, 

145 



146 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


where, nine years previously, Christianson had built the older Fort 
Nassau. A flood in the river had swept the island bare. Not deeming 
it prudent to restore the works in a place likely to b^ deluged, Joris 
sailed up stream a short distance and rebuilt the fortress on the present 
site of Albany. The name of this northern outpost was changed to Fort 
Orange; and here the eighteen families of Joris’s company were per¬ 
manently settled. 

3. In 1624 civil government began in New Netherland. Cornelius 
May was first governor of the colony. His official duties, however, were 
only such as belonged to the superintendent of a trading-post. In the 
next year William Verhulst became director of the settlement. Herds 
of cattle, swine and sheep were brought over from Holland and distributed 
among the settlers. In January of 1626, Peter Minuit, of Wesel, was 
regularly appointed by the Hutch West India Company as governor of 
New Netherland. Until this time the natives had retained the owner¬ 
ship of Manhattan Island; but on Minuit’s arrival, in May, an offer of 
purchase was made and accepted. The whole island, containing more 
than twenty thousand acres, was sold to the Hutch for twenty-four dol¬ 
lars. The southern point of land was selected as a site for fortifications; 
there a block-house was built and surrounded with a palisade. New 
Amsterdam was already a town of thirty houses. In the first year of 
Minuit’s administration were begun the settlements of Wallabout and 
Brooklyn, on Long Island. 

4. The Hutch of New Amsterdam and the Pilgrims of New Plymouth 
were early and fast friends. The Puritans themselves had but recently 
arrived from Holland, and could not forget the kind treatment which 
they had had in that country. They and the Walloons were alike exiles 
fleeing from persecution and tyranny. On two occasions, in 1627, a 
Hutch embassy was sent to Plymouth with an expression of good will. 
The English were cordially invited to remove without molestation to the 
more fertile valley of the Connecticut. Governor Bradford replied with 
words of cheer and sympathy. The Hutch were honestly advised of the 
claims of England to the country of the Hudson ; and the people of New 
Netherland were cautioned to make good their titles by accepting new 
deeds from the council of Plymouth. A touch of jealousy was manifested 
when the Hutch were warned not to send their trading-boats into the 
Bay of Narragansett. 

5. In 1628 the population of Manhattan numbered two hundred and 
seventy. The settlers devoted their whole energies to the fur-trade. 
Every bay, inlet and river between Rhode Island and the Helaware was 
visited by their vessels. The colony gave promise of rapid development 


NEW YORK. 


147 


and of great profit to the proprietors. If the houses were rude and 
thatched with straw, there were energy and thrift within. If only wooden 
chimneys carried up the smoke, the fires of the hearthstones were kindled 
with laughter and song. If creaking windmills flung abroad their un¬ 
gainly arms in the winds of Long Island Sound, it was proof that the 
people had families to feed and meant to feed them. 

6. The West India Company now came forward with a new and pecu¬ 
liar scheme of colonization. In 1629, the corporation created a Charter 
of Privileges, under which a class of proprietors called patroons were 
authorized to possess and colonize the country. Each patroon might 
select anywhere in New Netherland a tract of land not more than sixteen 
miles in length, and of a breadth to be determined by the location. On 
the banks of a navigable river not more than eight miles might be ap¬ 
propriated by one proprietor. Each district was to be held in fee simple 
by the patroon, who was empowered to exercise over his estate and its 
inhabitants the same authority as did the hereditary lords of Europe. 
The conditions were that the estates should be held as dependencies of 
Holland; that each patroon should purchase his domain of the Indians • 
and that he should, within four years from the date of his title, establish 
on his manor a colony of not less than fifty persons. Education and re¬ 
ligion were commended in the charter, but no provision was made for 
the support of either. 

7. Under the provisions of this instrument five estates were imme¬ 
diately established. Three of them, lying contiguous, embraced a district 
of twenty-four miles in the valley of the Hudson above and below Fort 
Orange. The fourth manor was laid out by Michael Pauw on Staten 
Island; and the fifth, and most important, included the southern half of 
the present State of Delaware. To this estate a colony was sent out from 
Holland in the spring of 1631. Samuel Godvn was patroon of the do¬ 
main, but the immediate management was entrusted to David Peterson de 
Vries. With a company of thirty immigrants, he reached the entrance 
to Delaware Bay, and anchored within Cape Henlopen. Landing five 
miles up the bay, at the mouth of Lewis Creek, the colony selected a site 
and laid the foundations of Lewistown, the oldest settlement in Delaware. 

8. After a year of successful management, De Vries returned to Hol¬ 
land, leaving the settlement in charge of Gillis Hosset. The latter, a 
man of no sagacity, soon brought the colony to ruin. An Indian chief 
who offended him was seized and put to death. The natives, who thus 
far had treated the strangers with deference and good faith, were aroused 
to vengeance. Rising suddenly out of an ambuscade upon the terrified 
colonists, they left not a man alive. The houses and palisades were 


148 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


burned to the ground; nothing but bones and ashes remained to testify 
of savage passion. When De Vries returned, in December of 1632, he 
found only the blackened ruins of his flourishing hamlet. He sailed first 
to Virginia for a cargo of supplies, and thence to New Amsterdam; but 
before the colony could be re-established, Lord Baltimore had received 
from the English government a patent which embraced the whole of 
Delaware; the weaker, though older, claim of the Dutch patroon gave 
way before the charter of his more powerful rival. 

9. In April of 1633, Minuit was superseded in the government of New 
Netherland by Wouter van Twiller. Three months previously the Dutch 
had purchased of the natives the soil around Hartford, and had erected a 
block-house within the present limits of the city. This was the first 
fortress built on the Connecticut River; but the Puritans, though pro¬ 
fessing friendship, were not going to give up the valley without a struggle. 
In October of the same year an armed vessel, sent out from Plymouth, 
sailed up the river and openly defied the Dutch commander at Hartford. 
Passing the fortress, the English proceeded up stream to the mouth of 
the river Farmington, where they landed and built Fort Windsor. Two 
years later, by the building of Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut, 
the English obtained command of the river both above and below the 
Dutch fort. The block-house at Hartford, being thus cut off, was com¬ 
paratively useless to the authorities of New Netherland; English towns 
multiplied in the neighborhood; and the Dutch finally surrendered their 
eastern outpost to their more powerful rivals. 

10. Four of the leading European nations had now established perma¬ 
nent colonies in America. The fifth to plant an American State was 
Sweden. As early as 1626, Gustavus Adolphus, the Protestant king 
of that country and the hero of his age, had formed the design of estab¬ 
lishing settlements in the West. For this purpose a company of mer¬ 
chants had been organized, to whose capital the king himself contributed 
four hundred thousand dollars. The objects had in view were to form a 
refuge for persecuted Protestants and to extend Swedish commerce. But 
before his plans of colonization could be carried into effect, Gustavus be¬ 
came involved in the Thirty Years’ War, then raging in Germany. The 
company was disorganized, and the capital wasted in the purchase of mili¬ 
tary stores. In November of 1632 the Swedish king was killed at the 
battle of Lutzen. For a while it seemed that the plan of colonizing 
America had ended in failure, but Oxenstiern, the great Swedish minis¬ 
ter, took up the work which his master had left unfinished. The charter 
of the company was renewed, and after four years of preparation the 
enterprise was brought to a successful issue. 


NEW YORK. 


149 


11. In the mean time, Peter Minuit, the recent governor of New 
Nether land, had left the service of Holland and entered that of Sweden. 
To him was entrusted the management of the first Swedish colony which 
was sent to America. Late in the year 1637, a company of Swedes and 
Finns left the harbor of Stockholm, and in the following February 
arrived in Delaware Bay. Never before had the Northerners beheld so 
beautiful a land. They called Cape Henlopen the Point of Paradise. 
The whole country, sweeping around the west side of the bay and up the 
river to the falls at Trenton, was honorably purchased of the Indians. 
In memory of native land, the name of New Sweden was given to this 
fine territory. The colony landed just below the mouth of the Brandy¬ 
wine, in the northern part of the present State of Delaware. On the left 
bank of a small tributary, at a point about six miles from the bay, a spot 
was chosen for the settlement. Here the foundations of a fort were laid, 
and the immigrants soon provided themselves with houses. The creek 
and the fort were both named in honor of Christiana, the maiden queen 
of Sweden. 

12. The colony prospered greatly. By each returning ship letters were 
borne to Stockholm, describing the loveliness of the country. Immigra¬ 
tion became rapid and constant. At one time, in 1640, more than a hun¬ 
dred families, unable to find room on the crowded vessels which were 
leaving the Swedish capital, were turned back to their homes. The 
banks of Delaware Bay and River were dotted with pleasant hamlets. 
On every hand appeared the proofs of well-directed industry. Of all 
the early settlers in America, none were more cheerful, intelligent and 
virtuous than the Swedes. 

13. From the first, the authorities of New Amsterdam were jealous 
of the colony on the Delaware. Sir William Kieft, who had succeeded 
the incompetent Van Twiller in the governorship, sent an earnest remon¬ 
strance to Christiana, warning the settlers of their intrusion on Dutch 
territory. But the Swedes, giving little heed to the complaints of their 
neighbors, went on enlarging their borders and strengthening their out¬ 
posts. Governor Kieft was alarmed and indignant at these aggressions, 
and as a precautionary measure sent a party to rebuild Fort Nassau, ou 
the old site below Camden. The Swedes, regarding this fortress as a 
menace to their colony, adopted active measures of defence. Ascending 
the river to within six miles of the mouth of the Schuylkill, they landed 
on the island of Tinicum, and built an impregnable fort of hemlock 
logs. Here, in 1643, Governor Printz established his residence. To 
Pennsylvania, as well as to Delaware, Sweden contributed the earliest 
colony. 


150 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


14. In 1640, New Netherland became involved in a war with the 
Indians of Long Island and New Jersey. The natives of the lower 
Hudson were a weak and unwarlike people; under just treatment they 
would have faithfully kept the peace. But dishonest traders had mad¬ 
dened them with rum and then defrauded and abused them. Burning 
with resentment and hate, the savages of the Jersey shore crossed over to 
Staten Island, laid waste the farms and butchered the inhabitants. New 
Amsterdam was for a while endangered, but was soon put in a state 
of defence. A company of militia was organized and sent against the 
Delawares of New Jersey, but nothing resulted from the expedition. A 
large bounty was offered for every member of the tribe of the Raritans, 
and many were hunted to death. On both sides the war degenerated 
into treachery and murder. Through the mediation of Roger Williams, 
the great peacemaker of Rhode Island, a truce was obtained, and imme¬ 
diately broken. A chieftain’s son, who had been made drunk and robbed, 
went to the nearest settlement and killed the first Hollander whom he 
met. Governor Kieft demanded the criminal, but the sachems refused 
to give him up. They offered to pay a heavy fine for the wrong done, 
but Kieft would accept nothing less than the life of the murderer. 

15. While the dispute was still unsettled, a party of the terrible Mo¬ 
hawks came down the river to claim and enforce their supremacy over 
the natives of the coast. The timid Algonquins in the neighborhood of 
New Amsterdam cowered before the mighty warriors of the North, 
huddled together on the bank of the Hudson, and begged assistance of 
the Dutch. Here the vindictive Kieft saw an opportunity of wholesale 
destruction. A company of soldiers set out secretly from Manhattan, 
crossed the river and discovered the lair of the Indians. The place was 
surrounded by night, and the first notice of danger given to the savages 
was the roar of muskets. Nearly a hundred of the poor wretches were 
killed before daydawn. Women who shrieked for pity were mangled to 
death, and children were thrown into the river. 

16. When it was known among the tribes that the Dutch, and not the 
Mohawks, were the authors of this outrage, the Avar was renewed with 
fury. The Indians were in a frenzy. Dividing into small war-parties, 
they concealed themselves in the woods and swamps; then rose, without a 
moment’s warning, upon defenceless farmhouses, burning and butchering 
without mercy. At this time that noted woman Mrs. Anne Hutchinson 
was living with her son-in-law in the valley of the Housatonic. Her 
house was surrounded and set on fire by the savages; every member of 
the family except one child was cruelly murdered. Mrs. Hutchinson 
herself was burned alive. 


NEW YORK.—ADMINISTRATION OF STUYVESANT. 


151 


17. In 1643, Captain John Underhill, a fugitive from Massachusetts, 
was appointed to the command of the Dutch forces. At the head of a 
regiment raised by Governor Kieft he invaded New Jersey, and brought 
the Delawares into subjection. A decisive battle was fought on Long 
Island; and at Greenwich, in Western Connecticut, the power of the In¬ 
dians was finally broken. Again the ambassadors of the Iroquois came 
forward with proposals for peace. Both parties were anxious to rest from 
the ruin and devastation of war. On the 30th of August, 1645, a treaty 
was concluded at Fort Amsterdam. 

18. Nearly all of the bloodshed and sorrow of these five years of war 
may be charged to Governor Kieft. He was a revengeful and cruel man, 
whose idea of government was to destroy whatever opposed him. The 
people had many times desired to make peace with the Indians, but the 
project had always been defeated by the headstrong passions of the 
governor. A popular party, headed by the able De Vries, at last grew 
powerful enough to defy his authority. As soon as the war was ended, 
petitions for his removal were circulated and signed by the people. Two 
years after the treaty, the Dutch West India Company revoked his com¬ 
mission and appointed Peter Stuyvesant to succeed him. In 1647, Kieft 
embarked for Europe; but the heavy-laden merchantman in which he 
sailed was dashed to pieces by a storm on the coast of Wales, and the 
guilty governor of New Netherland found a grave in the sea. 


CHAPTER II. 

NEW YORK.—ADMINISTRATION OF STUYVESANT. 

T HE honest and soldierly Peter Stuyvesant was the last and 
greatest of the governors of New Netherland. He entered upon his 
duties on the 11th of May, 1647, and continued in office for more than 
seventeen years. His first care was to conciliate the Indians. By the 
wisdom and liberality of his government the wayward red men were re¬ 
claimed from hostility and hatred. So intimate and cordial became the 
relations between the natives and the Dutch that they were suspected of 
making common cause against the English; even Massachusetts was 
alarmed lest such an alliance should be formed. But the policy of 
Governor Stuyvesant was based on nobler principles. 

2. Until now the West India Company had had exclusive control of 



152 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


the commerce of New Netherland. In the first year of the new adminis¬ 
tration this monopoly was abolished, and regular export duties were sub- 
stitr ted. The benefit of the change was at once apparent in the improve¬ 
ment of the Dutch province. In one of the letters written to Stuyvesant 
by the secretary of the company, the remarkable prediction is made that 
the commerce of New Amsterdam should cover every ocean and the ships 
of all nations crowd into her harbor. But for many years the growth of 
the city was slow. As late as the middle of the century, the better parts 
of Manhattan Island were still divided among the farmers. Central Park 
was a forest of oaks and chestnuts. 

3. In 1650, a boundary-line was fixed between New England and New * 
Netherland. The Dutch were fearful lest the English should reach the 
Hudson and cut off the fur-trade between Fort Orange and New Amster¬ 
dam. Governor Stuyvesant met the ambassadors of the Eastern colonies 
at Hartford, and after much discussion an eastern limit was set to the 
Dutch possessions. The line there established extended across Long 
Island north and south, passing through Oyster Bay, and thence to. Green¬ 
wich, on the other side of the sound. From this point northward the 
dividing-line was nearly identical with the present boundary of Connec¬ 
ticut on the west. This treaty was ratified by the colonies, bv the West 
India Company and by the states-general of Holland; but the English 
government treated the matter with indifference and contempt. 

4. Stuyvesant had less to fear from the colony of New Sweden. The 
people of New Netherland outnumbered the Swedes as ten to one, and 
the Dutch claim to the country of the Delaware had never been re¬ 
nounced. In 1651, an armament left New Amsterdam, entered the bay 
and came to anchor at a point on the western shore five miles below the 
mouth of the Brandywine. On the present site of New Castle, Fort Cas- 
imir was built and garrisoned with Dutch soldiers. This act was 
equivalent to a declaration of war. The Swedish settlement of Christiana 
was almost in sight of the hostile fortress, and a conflict could hardly be 
avoided. Rising, the governor of the Swedes, looked on quietly until 
Fort Casimir was completed, then captured the place by stratagem, over¬ 
powered the garrison and hoisted the flag of Sweden. 

5. It was a short-lived triumph. The West India Company were 
secretly pleased that the Swedes had committed an act of open violence. 
Orders were at once issued to Stuyvesant to visit the Swedish colonists 
with vengeance, and to compel their submission or drive them from the 
Delaware. In September of 1655 the orders of the company were car¬ 
ried out to the letter. The old governor put himself at the head of more 
than six hundred troops—a number almost equal to the entire population 


77 



dam 


FRENCH Blua 
ENGLISH JU& 
J)UTCH Brown 
SWEDISH Green 
8EANJ3H. Yellow 


aroli* 1 ® 


MAP IV. 

^c*^ GLIS ^ 

SWEDISH & SPANISH 

p fiOVTNC£ S 

A.D. 1635. 




























* 




















■ 
















































































NEW YORK.—ADMINISTRATION OF STUYVESANT. 


153 


of New Sweden—and sailed to Delaware Bay. Resistance was hopeless. 

The Dutch forces were landed at New Castle, and the Swedes gave way. 

Before the 25th of the month every fort belonging to the colony had been 

forced to capitulate. Governor Rising was captured, but was treated with 

great respect. Honorable terms were granted to all, and in a few days 

the authority of New Netherland was established throughout the country. 

Except a few turbulent spirits who removed to Maryland and Virginia, 

the submission was universal. After an existence of less than eighteen 

© 

years, the little State of New Sweden had ceased to be. The American 
possessions and territorial claims of France, England, Holland, Sweden 
and Spain will be best understood from an examination of the accom¬ 
panying map, drawn for the year 1655. 

6. How hardly can the nature of savages be restrained! While Gov¬ 
ernor Stuyvesant was absent on his expedition against the Swedes, the 
Algoncpiin tribes rose in rebellion. The poor creatures were going to 
take New Amsterdam. In a fleet of sixty-four canoes they appeared be¬ 
fore the town, yelling and discharging arrows. What could their puny 
missiles do against the walls of a European fortress? After paddling 
about until their rage, but not their hate, was spent, the savages went on 
shore and began their old work of burning and murder. The return of 
the Dutch forces from' the Delaware induced the sachems to sue for peace, 
which Stuyvesant granted on better terms than the Indians had deserved. 
The captives were ransomed, and the treacherous tribes were allowed to 
go with trifling punishments. 

7. For eight years after the conquest of New Sweden the peace of New 
Netherland was unbroken. In 1663 the natives of the county of Ulster, 
on the Hudson, broke out in war. The town of Esopus, now Kingston, 
was attacked and destroyed. Sixty-five of the inhabitants were either 
tomahawked or carried into captivity. To punish this outrage a strong 
force was sent from New Amsterdam. The Indians fled, hoping to find 
refuge in the woods; but the Dutch soldiers pursued them to their vil¬ 
lages, burned their wigwams and killed every warrior who could be over¬ 
taken. As winter came on, the humbled tribe began to beg for mercy. 
In December a truce was granted; and in May of the following year 
a treaty of peace was concluded. 

8. Governor Stuyvesant had great difficulty in defending his province 
beyond the Delaware. The queen of Sweden and her ministers at Stock¬ 
holm still looked fondly to their little American colony, and cherished 
the hope of recovering the conquered territory. A more dangerous com¬ 
petitor was found in Lord Baltimore, of Maryland, whose patent, given 
under the great seal of England, covered all the territory between the 


154 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Chesapeake and Delaware Bay, as far north as the latitude of Phila¬ 
delphia. Berkeley, of Virginia, also claimed New Sweden as a part of 
his dominions. Connecticut pushed her settlements westward on Long 
Island, and purchased all the remaining Indian claims between her 
western frontier and the Hudson. Massachusetts boldly declared her in¬ 
tention to extend her boundaries to Fort Orange. The indignant Stuy- 
vesant asked the agents of Connecticut where the province of New 
Nether land could shortly be found; and the agents coolly answered that 
they did not know. 

9. Discord at home added to the governor’s embarrassments. For 
many years the Dutch had witnessed the growth and prosperity of the 
English colonies. Boston had outgrown New Amsterdam. The schools 
of Massachusetts and Connecticut flourished; the academy on Man¬ 
hattan, after a sickly career of two years, was discontinued. In New 
Netherland heavy taxes were levied for the support of the poor; New 
England had no poor. Liberty and right were the subjects of debate in 
every English village; to the Dutch farmers and traders such words had 
little meaning. The people of New Netherland grew emulous of the 
progress of their powerful neighbors, and attributed their own abasement 
to the mismanagement and selfish greed of the West India Company. 
Without actual disloyalty to Holland, the Dutch came to prefer the laws 
and customs of England. Under these accumulating troubles the faithful 
Stuy vesant was wellnigh overwhelmed. 

10. Such was the condition of affairs at the beginning of 1664. Eng¬ 
land and Holland were at peace. Neither nation had reason to appre¬ 
hend an act of violence from the other. In all that followed, the arbi¬ 
trary principles and unscrupulous disposition of the English king were 
fully manifested. On the 12th of March in this year the duke of York 
received at the hands of his brother, Charles II., two extensive patents 
for American territory. The first grant included the district reaching 
from the Kennebec to the St. Croix River, and the second embraced the 
whole country between the Connecticut and the Delaware. Without re¬ 
gard to the rights of Holland, in utter contempt of the West India Com¬ 
pany, through whose exertions the valley of the Hudson had been peopled, 
with no respect for the wishes of the Dutch, or even for the voice of his 
own Parliament, the English monarch in one rash hour despoiled a sister 
kingdom of a well-earned province. 

11. The duke of York made haste to secure his territory. No time 
must be left for the states-general to protest against the outrage. An 
English squadron was immediately equipped, put under command of 
Richard Nicolls and sent to America. In July the armament reached 


±*EW YORK—ADMINISTRATION OFSTUYVERANT. 


155 


Boston, and thence proceeded against New Amsterdam. On the 28th of 
August, the fleet passed the Narrows, and anchored at Gravesend Bay. 
The English camp was pitched at Brooklyn Ferry; and before the Dutch 
had recovered from their surprise, the whole of Long Island was sub¬ 
dued. An embassy came over from New Amsterdam. Governor Stuy- 
vesant, ever true to his employers, demanded to know the meaning of all 
this hostile array. To 
receive the surrender 
of New Netherland 
was the quiet answer 
of N i c o 11 s. There 
must be an immediate 
acknowledgment of the 
sovereignty of Eng¬ 
land. Those who sub¬ 
mitted should have the 
rights of Englishmen; 
those who refused 
should hear the crash 
of cannon-balls. The 
Dutch council of New 
Amsterdam was im¬ 
mediately convened. 

It was clear that the 
burgomasters meant to 
surrender. The stormy 
old governor exhorted 
them to rouse to action and fight; some one replied that the Dutch 
West India Company was not worth fighting for. Burning with indig¬ 
nation, Stuyvesant snatched up the written proposal of Nicolls and tore 
it to tatters in the presence of his council. It was all in vain. The 
brave old man was forced to sign the capitulation; and on the 8th of 
September, 1664, New Netherland ceased to exist. The English flag 
was hoisted over the fort and town, and the name of New York was 
substituted for New Amsterdam. The surrender of Fort Orange, now 
named Albany, followed on the 24th; and on the 1st of October the 
Swedish and Dutch settlements on the Delaware capitulated. The con¬ 
quest was complete. The supremacy of Great Britain in America was 
finally established. From the north-east corner of Maine to the southern 
limits of Georgia, every mile of the American coast was under the flag 
of England. 



156 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER III. 


NEW YORK UNDER THE ENGLISH. 


ICHARD NICOLLS, the first English governor of New York, 



began his duties by settling the boundaries of his province. It was 
a work full of trouble and vexation. As early as 1623 the whole of Long 
Island had been granted to the earl of Stirling. Connecticut also claimed 
and occupied all that part of the island included in the present county of 
Suffolk. Against both of these claimants the patent of the duke of York 
was now to be enforced by his deputy Nicolls. The claim of Stirling was 
fairly purchased by the governor, but the pretensions of Connecticut were 
arbitrarily set aside. This action was the source of so much discontent 
that the duke was constrained to compensate Connecticut by making a 
favorable change in her south-west boundary-line. 

2. Two months before the conquest of New Netherland by the Eng¬ 
lish, the irregular territory between the Hudson and the Delaware, as far 
north as a point on the latter river in the latitude of forty-one degrees 
and forty minutes, was granted to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. 
This district, corresponding, except on the northern boundary, with the 
present State of New Jersey, was now wrested from the jurisdiction of 
New York, and a separate government established by the proprietors. 
The country below the Delaware, until recently called New Sweden, but 
now named The Territories, was consolidated with New York and 
ruled by deputies appointed by the governors of that province. Finally, 
the new name conferred by Nicolls on his capital was extended to all 
the country formerly called New Netherland. 

3. At the first the people were deluded with many promises of civil 
liberty. To secure this, the Dutch, against the passionate appeals of the 
patriotic Stuyvesant, had voluntarily surrendered themselves to the Eng¬ 
lish government. But it was a poor sort of civil liberty that any province 
was likely to obtain from one of the Stuart kings of England. The 
promised right of representation in a general assembly of the people was 
evaded and withheld. To this was added a greater grief in the annulling 
of the old titles by which, for half a century, the Dutch farmers had held 
their lands. The people were obliged to accept new deeds at the hands 


NEW YORK UNDER THE ENGLISH. 


157 


of the English governor, and to pay him therefor such sums as yielded an 
immense revenue. The evil done to the province, however, was less than 
might have been expected from so arbitrary and despotic a government. 

4. In 1667, Nicolls was superseded by Lovelace. With less ability 
and generosity than his predecessor, he proved a greater tyrant. The bad 
principles of the system established by the duke of York were now fully 
developed. The people became dissatisfied and gloomy. Protests against 
the government and petitions for redress were constantly presented, and 
constantly rejected with contempt. The discontent was universal. The 
towns of Southold, Southampton and Easthampton resisted the tax- 
gatherers. The people of Huntington voted that they were robbed of the 
privileges of Englishmen. The villagers of Jamaica, Flushing and Hemp¬ 
stead passed a resolution that the governor’s decree of taxation was contrary 
to the laws of the English nation. The only attention which Lovelace 
and his council paid to these resolutions was to declare them scandalous, 
illegal and seditious, and to order them to be publicly burnt before the 
town-house of New York. When the Swedes, naturally a quiet and 
submissive people, resisted the exactions of the government, they were 
visited with additional severity. “ If there is any more murmuring against 
the taxes, make them so heavy that the people can do nothing but think 
how to pay them,” said Lovelace in his instructions to his deputy. 

5. The Dutch and the English colonists were always friends. Not 
once in the whole history of the country did they lift the sword against 
each other. Even while England and Holland were at war, as they were 
in 1652-54, the American subjects of the two nations remained at peace. 
Another war followed that act of violence by which, in 1664, the duke 
of York possessed himself of New Netherland; but the conflict did not 
extend to America. A third time, in 1672, Charles II. was induced by 
the king of France to begin a contest with the Dutch government. This 
time, indeed, the struggle extended to the colonies, and New York was 
revolutionized, but not by the action of her own people. In 1673 a small 
squadron was fitted out by Holland and placed under command of the 
gallant Captain Evertsen. The fleet sailed for America, and arrived be¬ 
fore Manhattan on the 30th of July. The governor of New York was 
absent, and Manning, the deputy-governor, was a coward. The defences 
of the city were dilapidated, and the people refused to strengthen them. 
Within four hours after the arrival of the squadron the fort was sur¬ 
rendered. The city capitulated, and the whole province yielded without 
a struggle. New Jersey and Delaware sent in their submission; the 
name of New Netherland was revived ; and the authority of Holland was 
restored from Connecticut to Maryland. 


J58 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


6. The reconquest of New York by the Dutch was only a brief mili¬ 
tary occupation of the country. The civil authority of Holland was never 
reestablished. In 1674, Charles II. was obliged by his Parliament to 
conclude a treaty of peace. There was the usual clause requiring the 
restoration of all conquests made during the war. New York reverted 
to the English government, and the rights of the duke were again recog¬ 
nized in the province. To make his authority doubly secure for the 
future, he obtained from his brother, the king, a new patent confirming 
the provisions of the former charter. The man who now received the 
appointment of deputy-governor of New York was none other than Sir 
Edmund Andros. On the last day of October the Dutch forces were 
finally withdrawn, and Andros assumed the government. 

7. It was a sad sort of government for the people. The worst prac¬ 
tices of Lovelace’s administration were revived. The principles of arbi¬ 
trary rule were openly avowed. Taxes were levied without authority of 
law, and the appeals and protests of the people, were treated with derision. 
The clamor for a popular legislative assembly had become so great that 
Andros was on the point of yielding. He even wrote a letter to the duke 
of York advising that thick-headed prince to grant the people the right 
of electing a colonial legislature. The duke replied that popular assem¬ 
blies were seditious and dangerous; that they only fostered discontent and 
disturbed the peace of the government; and finally, that he did not see 
any use for them. To the people of New York the civil liberty of the 
New England colonies seemed farther off than ever. 

8. By the terms of his grant the duke of York claimed jurisdiction 
over all the territory between the Connecticut River and Maryland. To 
assert and maintain this claim of his master was a part of the deputy- 
governor’s business in America. The first effort to extend the duke’s 
territorial rights to the limits of his charter was made in July of 1675. 
With some armed sloops and a company of soldiers, Andros proceeded to 
the mouth of the Connecticut in the hope of establishing his jurisdiction. 
The general assembly of the colony had heard of his coming, and had 
sent word to Captain Bull, who commanded the fort at Saybrook, to re¬ 
sist Andros in the name of the king. When the latter came in sight and 
hoisted the flag of England, the same colors were raised within the fortress. 
The royal governor was permitted to land; but when he began to read 
his commission, he was ordered in the king’s name to desist. Overawed 
by the threatening looks of the Saybrook militia, Andros retired to his 
boats and set sail for Long Island. 

9. Notwithstanding the grant of New Jersey to Carteret and Berkeley, 
the attempt was now made to extend the jurisdiction of New York over 


NEW YORK UNDER THE ENGLISH 


159 


the lower province. Andros issued a decree that ships sailing to and 
fiom the ports ot New Jersey should pay a duty at the custom-house 
ot New York. lliis tyrannical action was openly resisted. Andros 
attempted to frighten the assembly ot New Jersey into submission, and 
proceeded so far as to arrest Philip Carteret, the deputy-governor. But 
it was all of no use. The representatives of the people declared them¬ 
selves to be under the protection of the Great Charter, which not even the 
duke of A ork, or his brother the king, could alter or annul. In August 
of 1682 the territories beyond the Delaware were granted by the duke to 
Y illiam Penn. I his little district, first settled by the Swedes, afterward 
conquered by the Dutch, then transferred to England on the conquest of 
New Netherland, was now finally separated from the jurisdiction of New 
A ork and joined to Pennsylvania. The governors of the latter province 
continued to exercise authority over the three counties on the Delaware 
until the American Revolution. 

10. At the close of Andros’s administration, in 1683, Thomas Dongan, 
a Catholic, became governor of New York. For thirty years the people 
had been clamoring for a general assembly. Just before Andros left the 
province, the demand became more vehement than ever. The retiring 
governor, himself of a despotic disposition, counseled the duke to concede 
the right of representation to the people. At last James yielded, not so 
much with the view of extending popular rights, as with the hope of in¬ 
creasing his revenues from the improved condition of his province. 
Dongan, the new governor, came with full instructions to call an assem¬ 
bly of all the freeholders of New York, by whom certain persons of their 
own number should be elected to take part in the government. Seventy 
years had passed since the settlement of Manhattan Island; and now for 
the first time the people were permitted to choose their own rulers and to 
frame their own laws. 

11. The first act of the new assembly was to declare that the supreme 
legislative power of the province resided in the governor, the council and 
the people. All freeholders were granted the right of suffrage; trial 
by jury was established; taxes should no more be levied except by con¬ 
sent of the assembly; soldiers should not be quartered on the people; 
martial law should not exist; no person accepting the general doctrines 
of religion should be in any wise distressed or persecuted. All the rights 
and privileges of Massachusetts and Virginia were carefully written by 
the zealous law-makers of New York in their first charter of liberties. 

12. In July of 1684 an important treaty was concluded at Albany. 
The governors of New York and Virginia were met in convention by the 
sachems of the Iroquois, and the terms of a lasting peace were settled. 

II 


160 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


A long war ensued between the Five Nations and the French. The 
French of Canada employed every artifice and intrigue to induce the 
Indians to break their treaty with the English, but all to no purpose; 
the alliance was faithfully observed. Jn 1684, and again in 1687, the 
French invaded the territory of the Iroquois; but the mighty Mohawks 
and Oneidas drove back their foes with loss and disaster. By the barrier 
of the friendly Five Nations on the north, the English and Dutch colo¬ 
nies were screened from danger. 

13. In 1685 the duke of York became king of England. It was soon 
found that even the monarch of a great nation could violate his pledges. 
King James became the open antagonist of the government which had 
been established under his own directions. The popular legislature of 
New York was abrogated. An odious tax was levied by an arbitrary 
decree. Printing-presses were forbidden in the province. All the old 
abuses were revived and made a public boast. 

14. In December of 1686, Edmund Andros became governor of all 
New England. It was a part of his plan to extend his dominion over 
New York and New Jersey. To the former province, Francis Nicholson, 
the lieutenant-general of Andros, was sent as deputy. Dongan was super¬ 
seded, and until the English Revolution of 1688, New York was ruled 
as a dependency of New England. When the news of that event and of 
the accession of William of Orange reached the province, there was a 
general tumult of rejoicing. The people rose in rebellion against the 
government of Nicholson, who was glad enough to escape from New 
York and return to England. 

15. The leader of the insurrection was Jacob Leisler, a captain of the 
militia. A committee of ten took upon themselves the task of reorganizing 
the government. Leisler was commissioned to take possession of the fort 
of New York. Most of the troops in the city, together with five hundred 
volunteers, proceeded against the fort, which was surrendered without a 
Struggle. The insurgents published a declaration in which they avowed 
their loyalty to the prince of Orange, their countryman, and expressed 
their determination to yield immediate obedience to his authority. A 
provisional government was organized, with Leisler at the head. The 
provincial councilors, who were friends and adherents of the deposed 
Nicholson, left the city and repaired to Albany. Here the party who 
were opposed to the usurpation of Leisler proceeded to organize a second 
provisional government. Both factions were careful to exercise authority 
in the name of William and Mary, the new sovereigns of England. 

16. In September of 1689, Milborne, the son-in-law of Leisler, was 
sent to Albany to demand the surrender of the town and fort. Court- 


NEW YORK UNDER THE ENGLISH 


161 


land and Bayard, who were the leaders of the northern faction, opposed 
the demand with so much vigor that Milborne was obliged to retire with¬ 
out accomplishing his object. Such was the condition of affairs at the 
beginning of King William’s War. How the village of Schenectady was 
destroyed by the French and Indians, and how an unsuccessful expedition 
by land and water was planned against Quebec and Montreal, has been 
narrated in the history of Massachusetts. Such was the dispiriting effect 
of these disasters upon the people of Albany and the north that a second 
effort made by Milborne against the government of the opposing faction 
was successful; and in the spring of 1690 the authority of Leisler as tem¬ 
porary governor of New York was recognized throughout the province. 
The summer was spent in fruitless preparations to invade and conquer 
Canada. The general assembly was convened at the capital; but little 
was accomplished except a formal recognition of the insurrectionary 
government of Leisler. 

17. In January of 1691, Richard Ingoldsby arrived at New York. 
He bore a commission as captain, and brought the intelligence that Colo¬ 
nel Sloughter had been appointed royal governor of the province. Leisler 
received Ingoldsby with courtesy, and offered him quarters in the city; 
but the latter, without authority from either the king or the governor, 
haughtily demanded the surrender of His Majesty’s fort. Leisler refused 
to yield, but expressed his willingness to submit to any one who bore 
a commission from King William or Colonel Sloughter. On the 19th 
of March the governor himself arrived; and Leisler on the same day 
despatched messengers, tendering his service and submission. The mes¬ 
sengers were arrested, and Ingoldsby, the enemy and rival of Leisler, was 
sent with verbal orders for the surrender of the fort. Leisler foresaw his 
doom, and hesitated. He wrote a letter to Sloughter, expressing a desire 
to make a personal surrender of the post to the governor. The letter was 
unanswered; Ingoldsby pressed his demand; Leisler wavered, capitu¬ 
lated, and with Milborne was seized and hurried to prison. 

18. As soon as the royal government was organized the two prisoners 
were brought to trial. The charge was rebellion and treason. Dudley, 
the chief-justice of New England, rendered a decision that Leisler had 
been a usurper. The prisoners refused to plead, were convicted and sen¬ 
tenced to death. Sloughter, however, determined to know the pleasure 
of the king before putting the sentence into execution. But the royalist 
assembly of New York had already come together, and the members were 
resolved that the prisoners should be hurried to their death. The governor 
was invited to a banquet; and when heated with strong drink, the death- 
warrant was thrust before him for his signature. He succeeded in affix- 


162 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


ing his name to the fatal parchment; and almost before the fumes of his 
drunken revel had passed away, his victims had met their fate. On the 
16th of May, Leisler and Milborne were brought from prison, led through 
a drenching rain to the scaffold and hanged. Within less than a year 
afterward, their estates, which had been confiscated, were restored to their 
heirs; and in 1695 the attainder of the families was removed. 

19. The same summer that witnessed the execution of Leisler and 
Milborne was noted for the renewal of the treaty with the Iroquois. At 
Albany, Governor Sloughter met the sachems of the Five Nations, and 
the former terms of fidelity and friendship were reaffirmed. In the fol¬ 
lowing year the valiant Major Schuyler, at the head of the New York 
militia, joined a war-party of the Iroquois in a successful expedition 
against the French settlements beyond Lake Champlain. Meanwhile, 
the assembly of the province had been in session at the capital. Although 
the representatives were royalists, a resolution was passed against arbitrary 
taxation, and another which declared the people to be a part of the govern¬ 
ing power of the colony. It was not long until one of the governors had 
occasion to say that the people of New York were growing altogether too 
big with the privileges of Englishmen. 

20. Soon after his return from Albany, Sloughter’s career was cut 
short by death. He was succeeded in the office of governor by Benjamin 
Fletcher, a man of bad passions and poor abilities. The new executive 
arrived in September of 1692. One of the first measures of his adminis¬ 
tration was to renew the recent treaty with the Iroquois. It was at this 
time the avowed purpose of the English monarch to place under a com¬ 
mon government all the territory between the Connecticut Fiver and 
Delaware Bay. To further this project, Fletcher was armed with an 
ample and comprehensive commission. He was made governor of New 
York, and commander-in-chief not only of the troops of his own province, 
but also of the militia of Connecticut and New Jersey. In the latter 
province he met with little opposition; but the Puritans of Hartford re¬ 
sisted so stubbornly that the alarmed and disgusted governor was glad to 
return to his own capital. 

21. The next effort of the administration was to establish the Episcopal 
Church in New York. The Dutch and the English colonists of the 
province were still distinct in nationality; the former, though Calvinists, 
were not unfriendly to the Episcopal service which the Puritans so 
heartily despised. In a religious controversy between Fletcher’s council 
and the English, the Dutch, not being partisans of either, looked on with 
comparative indifference. But when the governor was on the point of 
succeeding with his measures, the general assembly interposed, passed a 


NEW YORK UNDER THE ENGLISH. 


163 


decree of toleration, and brought the pretentious Church to a level with 
the rest. Fletcher gave vent to his indignation by calling his legislators 
a set of unmannerly and insubordinate boors. 

22. In 1696 the territory of New York was invaded by the French 
under Frontenac, governor of Canada. The faithful Iroquois made com¬ 
mon cause with the colonial forces, and the formidable expedition of the 
French was turned into confusion. Before the loss could be repaired 
and a second invasion undertaken, King William’s War was ended by the 
treaty of Ryswick. In the following year, the earl of Bellomont, an 
Irish nobleman of excellent character and popular sympathies, succeeded 
Fletcher in the government of New York. His administration of less 
than four years was the happiest era in the history of the colony. His 
authority, like that of his predecessor, extended over a part of New Eng¬ 
land. Massachusetts and New Hampshire were under his jurisdiction, 
but Connecticut and Rhode Island remained independent. To this period 
belong the exploits of the famous pirate, Captain William Kidd. 

23. For centuries piracy had been the common vice of the high seas. 
The nations were just now beginning to take active measures for the sup¬ 
pression of the atrocious crime. The honest and humane Bellomont was 
one who was anxious to see the end of piratical violence. His commission 
contained a clause which authorized the arming of a vessel to range the 
ocean in pursuit of pirates. The ship was to bear the English flag, and 
was also commissioned as a privateer to prey upon the commerce of the 
enemies of England. The vessel was owned by a company of distin¬ 
guished and honorable persons; Governor Bellomont himself was one of 
the proprietors; and William Kidd received from the English admiralty 
a commission as captain. The ship sailed from England before Bello- 
mont’s departure for New York. Hardly had the earl reached his 
province when the news came that Kidd himself had turned pirate and 
become the terror of the seas. For two years he continued his infamous 
career, then appeared publicly in the streets of Boston, was seized, sent 
to England, tried, convicted.and hanged. What disposition was made 
of the enormous treasures which the pirate-ship had gathered on the ocean 
has never been ascertained. It has been thought that the vast hoard of 
ill-gotten wealth was buried in the sands of Long Island. Governor 
Bellomont was charged with having shared the booty, but an in¬ 
vestigation before the House of Commons showed the accusation to be 
groundless. 

24. In striking contrast with the virtues and wisdom of Bellomont 
were the vices and folly of Lord Cornbury, who succeeded him. He 
arrived at New York in the beginning of May, 1702. A month 


164 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


previously the proprietors of New Jersey had surrendered their rights 
in the province to the English Crown. All obstacles being thus removed, 
the two colonies were formally united in one government under the 
authority of Corn bury. For a period of thirty-six years the territories, 
though with separate assemblies, continued under the jurisdiction of a 
single executive. 

25. One of Cornbury’s first acts was to forge a clause in his own com¬ 
mission. Desiring to foster the Established Church, and finding nothing 
to that effect in his instructions, he made instructions for himself. At 
first the people received him with great favor. The assembly voted two 
thousand pounds sterling to compensate him for the expenses of his 
voyage. In order to improve and fortify the Narrows, an additional sum 
of fifteen hundred pounds was granted. The money was taken out of the 
treasury, but no improvement was visible at the Narrows. The repre¬ 
sentatives modestly inquired what had become of their revenues. Lord 
Cornbury replied that the assembly of New York had no right to ask 
questions until the queen should give them permission. The old and 
oft-repeated conflict between personal despotism and popular liberty broke 
out anew. The people of the province were still divided on the subject 
of Leisler’s insurrection. Cornbury became a violent partisan, favoring 
the enemies and persecuting the friends of that unfortunate leader; and so 
from year to year matters grew constantly worse, until between the gov¬ 
ernor and his people there existed no relation but that of mutual hatred. 

26. In 1708 the civil dissensions of the province reached a climax. 
Each succeeding assembly resisted more stubbornly the measures of the 
governor. Time and again the people petitioned for his removal. The 
councilors selected their own treasurer, refused to vote appropriations, 
and curtailed Cornbury’s revenues until he was impoverished and ruined. 
Then came Lord Lovelace with a commission from Queen Anne, and the 
passionate, wretched governor was unceremoniously turned out of office. 
Left to the mercy of his injured subjects, they arrested him for debt and 
threw him into prison, where he lay until, by his father’s death, he be¬ 
came a peer of England and could be no longer held in confinement. 

27. During the progress of Queen Anne’s War the troops of New York 
cooperated with the army and navy of New England. Eighteen hun¬ 
dred volunteers from the Hudson and the Delaware composed the land 
forces in the unsuccessful expedition against Montreal in the winter of 
1709-10. The provincial army proceeded as far as South River, east 
of Lake George. Here information was received that the English fleet 
which was expected to cooperate in the reduction of Quebec had been 
sent to Portugal; the armament of New England was insufficient of 


NEW YORK UNDER THE ENGLISH. 


165 


itself to attempt the conquest of the Canadian stronghold ; and the troops 
of New York and New Jersey were obliged to retreat. Again, in 1711, 
when the incompetent Sir Hovenden Walker was pretending to conduct 
his fleet up the St. Lawrence, and was in reality only anxious to get 
away, the army which was to invade Canada by land was furnished by 
New York. A second time the provincial forces reached Lake George; 
but the dispiriting news of the disaster to Walker’s fleet destroyed all 
hope of success, and the discouraged soldiers returned to their homes. 

28. Failure and disgrace were not the only distressing circumstances 
of these campaigns; a heavy debt remained to overshadow the prosperity 
of New York and to consume her revenues. For many years the re¬ 
sources of the province were exhausted in meeting the extraordinary 
expenses of Queen Anne’s war. In 1713 the treaty of Utrecht put an 
end to the conflict, and peace returned to the American colonies. In this 
year the Tuscaroras of Carolina—a nation of the same race with the Iro¬ 
quois and Hurons of the North—were defeated and driven from their 
homes by the Southern colonists. The haughty tribe marched north¬ 
ward, crossed the middle colonies and joined their warlike kinsmen on 
the St. Lawrence, making the sixth nation in the Iroquois confederacy. 
Nine years later a great council was held at Albany. There the grand 
sachems of the Six Nations were met by the governors of New York, 
Pennsylvania and Virginia. An important commercial treaty was 
formed, by which the extensive and profitable fur-trade of the Indians, 
which, until now, had been engrossed by the French, was diverted to the 
English. In order to secure the full benefits of this arrangement, Governor 
Burnett of New York hastened to establish a trading-post at Oswego, on 
the southern shore of Lake Ontario. Five years later a substantial fort 
was built at the same place and furnished with an English garrison. As 
late as the middle of the century, Oswego continued to be the only forti¬ 
fied outpost of the English in the entire country drained by the St. Law¬ 
rence and its tributaries. The French, meanwhile, had built a strong fort 
at Niagara, and another at Crown Point, on the western shore of Lake 
Champlain. The struggle for colonial supremacy between the two nations 
was already beginning. 

29. The administration of Governor Cosby, who succeeded Burnett in 
1732, was a stormy epoch in the history of the colony. The people were 
in a constant struggle with the royal governors. At this time the contest 
took the form of a dispute about the freedom of the press. The liberal 
or democratic party of the province held that a public journal might criti¬ 
cise the acts of the administration and publish views distasteful to the 
government. The aristocratic party opposed such liberty as a dangerous 


166 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


license, which, if permitted, would soon sap the foundations of all an- 
thority. Zenger, an editor of one of the liberal newspapers, published 
hostile criticisms on the policy of the governor, was seized and put in 
prison. Great excitement ensued. The people were clamorous for their 
champion. Andrew Hamilton, a noted lawyer of Philadelphia, went to 
New York to defend Zenger, who was brought to trial in July of 1735. 
The charge was libel against the government; the cause Was ably argued, 
and the jury made haste to bring in a verdict of acquittal. The aldermen 
of the city of New York, in order to testify their appreciation of Hamil¬ 
ton’s services in the cause of liberty, made him a present of an elegant 
gold box, and the people were wild with enthusiasm over their victory. 

30. New York, like Massachusetts, was once visited with a fatal delu¬ 
sion. In the year 1741 occurred what is known as the Negro Plot. 
Slavery was permitted in the province, and negroes constituted a large 
fraction of the population. Several destructive fires had occurred, and it 
was believed that they had been kindled by incendiaries.. The slaves 
were naturally distrusted; now they became feared and hated. Some 
degraded women came forward and gave information that the negroes 
had made a plot to burn the city, kill all who opposed them, and set up 
one of their own number as governor. The whole story was the essence 
of absurdity; but the people were alarmed, and were ready to believe 
anything. The reward of freedom was offered to any slave who woidd 
reveal the plot. Many witnesses rushed forward with foolish and contra¬ 
dictory stories; the jails were filled with the accused; and more than 
thirty of the miserable creatures, with hardly the form of a trial, were 
convicted and then hanged or burned to death. Others were transported 
and sold as slaves in foreign lands. As soon as the supposed peril had 
passed and the excited people regained their senses, it came to be doubted 
whether the whole shocking affair had not been the result of terror and 
fanaticism. The verdict of after times has been that there was no plot 
at all. 

31. During the progress of King George’s War the territory of New 
York was several times invaded by the French and Indians. But the 
invasions were feeble and easily repelled. Except the abandonment of a 
few villages in the northern part of the State and the destruction of a 
small amount of exposed property, little harm was done to the province* 
The alliance of the fierce Mohawks with the English always made the in¬ 
vasion of New York by the French an exploit of more danger than profit. 
The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, concluded in 1748, again brought peace 
and prosperity to the people. 

32. Such is the history of the little colony planted on Manhattan 


NEW JERSEY. 


167 


Island. A hundred and thirty years have passed since the first feeble 
settlements were made; now the great valley of the Hudson is filled with 
beautiful farms and teeming villages. The Walloons of Flanders and 
the Puritans of New England have blended into a common people. Dis¬ 
cord and contention, though bitter while they lasted, have borne only the 
peaceful fruit of colonial liberty. There are other and greater struggles 
through which New York must pass, other burdens to be borne, other 
calamities to be endured, other fires in which her sons must be tried and 
purified, before they gain their freedom. But the oldest and greatest of 
the middle colonies has entered upon a glorious career, and the ample 
foundations of an Empire State are securely laid. 


CHAPTER IV. 

NEW JERSEY. 

ri!HE colonial history of New Jersey begins with the founding of Eliz- 
-** abethtown, in 1664. As early as 1618 a feeble trading station had 
been established at Bergen, west of the Hudson; but forty years passed 
before permanent dwellings were built in that neighborhood. In 1623 
the block-house, called Fort Nassau, was erected at the mouth of Timber 
Creek, on the Delaware; after a few months’ occupancy, May and his 
companions abandoned the place and returned to New Amsterdam. In 
1663 a company of Puritans, living on Long Island, obtained permission 
of Governor Stuyvesant*to settle on the banks of the Raritan; but no 
colony was established until after the concpiest. 

2. All the territory of New Jersey was included in the grant made by 
King Charles to his brother the duke of York. Two months before the 
conquest of New Netherland by the English, that portion of the duke’s 
province lying between the Hudson and the Delaware, extending as far 
north as forty-one degrees and forty minutes, was assigned by the proprietor 
to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. These noblemen were already 
proprietors of Carolina; but they had adhered to the king’s cause during 
the civil war in England, and were now rewarded with a second Amer¬ 
ican province. Almost immediately after the conquest another company 
of Puritans made application to Governor Nicolls, and received an exten¬ 
sive grant of land on Newark Bay. The Indian titles were honorably 



168 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


purchased; in the following October a village was begun and named 
Elizabethtown, in honor of Lady Carteret. 

3. In August of 1665, Philip Carteret, son of Sir George, arrived as 
governor of the province. At first he was violently opposed by Nicolls 
of New York, who refused to believe that the duke had divided his terri¬ 
tory. But Carteret was armed with a commission, and could not be pre¬ 
vented from taking possession of the new settlements below the Hudson. 
Elizabethtown was made the capital of the colony; other immigrants 
arrived from Long Island and settled on the banks of the Passaic; New¬ 
ark was founded; flourishing hamlets appeared on the shores of the bay 
as far south as Sandy Hook. In honor of Sir George Carteret, who had 
been governor of the Isle of Jersey, in the English Channel, his American 
domain was named New Jersey. 

4. Experience had taught the proprietors wisdom; they had learned 
that freedom is essential to the prosperity of a colony, and that liberal 
concessions to the people are better than great outlays of money. Berke¬ 
ley and Carteret, though royalists themselves, provided for their new State 
an excellent constitution. Person and property were put under the protec¬ 
tion of law. The government was made to consist of a governor, a council 
and a popular legislative assembly. There should be no taxation unless 
levied by the representatives of the people. Difference of opinion should 
be respected, and freedom of conscience guaranteed to every citizen. The 
proprietors reserved to themselves only the right of annulling objection¬ 
able acts of the assembly and of appointing the governor and colonial 
judges. The lands of the province were distributed to the settlers for a 
quit-rent of a half penny per acre, not to be paid until 1670. 

5. In 1668 the first general assembly convened at Elizabethtown. 
Nearly all the representatives were Puritans, and the laws and customs 
of New England were thus early impressed on the legislation of the 
colony. Affairs went well until 1670, when the half-penny quit-rents were 
due to the proprietors. The colonists, in the mean time, had purchased 
their lands of the Indians, and also of Governor Nicolls of New York, 
who still claimed New Jersey as a part of his province. To the settlers, 
therefore, it seemed that their titles to their farms were good without 
further payment to Philip Carteret or anybody else. The collection of 
the rents was accordingly resisted; and the colony became a scene first of 
strife and then of revolution. In May of 1672 the colonial assembly 
convened and deposed the governor from office. James Carteret, another 
son of Sir George, was chosen governor, and Philip returned to England. 

6. In 1673 the Dutch succeeded in retaking New York from the Eng¬ 
lish. For a few months the old province of New Netherland, including 


NEW JERSEY. 


1(39 


the country as far south as the Delaware, was restored to Holland. But 
in the next year the whole territory was re-ceded by the states-general to 
England. The duke of York now received from his brother, the king, 
a second patent for the country between the Connecticut and the Delaware, 
and at the same time confirmed his former grant of New Jersey to Berke¬ 
ley and Carteret. Then, in utter disregard of the rights of the two pro¬ 
prietors, the duke appointed Sir Edmund Andros as royal governor of 
the whole province. Carteret determined to defend his claim against the 
authority of Andros; but Lord Berkeley, disgusted with the duke’s vacil¬ 
lation and dishonesty, sold his interest in New Jersey to John Fenwick, 
to be held in trust for Edward Byllinge. 

7. In 1675, Philip Carteret returned to America and resumed the 
government of the province from which he had been expelled. Andros 
opposed him in every act; claimed 
New Jersey as a part of his own 
dominions; kept the colony in an 
uproar; compelled the ships which 
came a-trading with the new settle¬ 
ments to pay tribute at New York; 
and finally arrested Carteret and 
brought him to his own capital for 
trial. Meanwhile, Byllinge became 
embarrassed with debt, and was forced 
to make an assignment of his property. 

Gawen Laurie, Nicholas Lucas and 
William Penn were appointed trus¬ 
tees, and to them By Hinge’s interest 
in N ew Jersey was assigned for the 
benefit of his creditors. 

8. The assignees were Quakers. 

Here, then, was an opportunity to 
establish another asylum for the 
persecuted, and to found a common¬ 
wealth of Friends. Penn and his 
associates at once applied to Sir 
George Carteret for a division of the 
province. That nobleman was both 
willing and anxious to enter into an 
arrangement by which his own half 
of the territory could be freed from all encumbrance. It was accordingly 
agreed to divide New Jersey so that Carteret’s district should be separated 















170 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


from the domain of the Quakers. After much discussion an agreement 
was reached in the summer of 1676, and a line of division was drawn 
through the province as follows: Beginning at the southern point of 
land on the east side of Little Egg Harbor, and running north of north' 
west to a point on the river Delaware in the latitude of forty-one degrees 
and forty minutes. The territory lying east of this line remained to 
Sir George as sole proprietor, and was named East Jersey ; while that 
portion lying between the line and the Delaware was called West 
Jersey, and passed under the exclusive control of Penn and his asso¬ 
ciates as assignees of Byllinge. 

9. Early in the following March the Quaker proprietors completed and 
published a body of laws under the singular title of Concessions. But 
the name was significant, for everything was conceded to the people. 
This first simple code enacted by the Friends in America rivaled the 
charter of Connecticut in the liberality and purity of its principles. The 
authors of the instrument accompanied its publication with a general 
letter addressed to the Quakers of England, recommending the province 
and inviting immigration. 

10. The invitation was not in vain. Before the end of the year a 
colony of more than four hundred Friends arrived in the Delaware, and 
found homes in West Jersey. Only one circumstance clouded the pros¬ 
pects of the new commonwealth of peace. The agent of Andros, governor 
of New York, was stationed at New Castle, on the western bank of the 
Delaware, to command the entrance to the river. The Quaker ships 
were obliged to pay customs before proceeding to their destination. A 
powerful remonstrance was drawn up by the Friends and sent to Eng¬ 
land. For once the duke of York listened to reason and agreed to sub¬ 
mit his cause to the courts; and for once a decision was rendered in 
accordance with right and justice. The eminent jurist Sir William 
Jones decided that the duke had no legal right to collect duties and taxes 
in the country of the Delaware. All claims to the territory and govern¬ 
ment of West Jersey were accordingly withdrawn; and the Quaker col¬ 
onists were left in the enjoyment of independence. The heirs of Sir 
George Carteret were quick to see that the same decision would free their 
half of the province from the jurisdiction of Andros. An effort was 
accordingly made by the proprietors of East Jersey to secure a deed of 
release from the duke of York. The petition was favorably entertained, 
the deed issued and the whole territory between the Hudson and the 
Delaware freed from foreign authority. 

11. In November of 1681, Jennings, the deputy-governor of West 
Jersey, convened the first general assembly of the province. The men 


NEW JERSEY . 


171 


who had so worried the aristocracy of England by wearing their hats in 
the presence of great men, and by saying Thee and Thou, now met together 
to make their own laws. The code was brief and simple. The doctrines 
of the Concessions were reaffirmed. Men of all races and of all religions 
were declared to be equal before the law. No superiority was conceded 
to rank or title, to wealth or royal birth. Imprisonment for debt was 
forbidden. The sale of ardent spirits to the Red men was prohibited. 
Taxes should be voted by the representatives of the people. The lands 
of the Indians should be acquired by honorable purchase. Finally, a 
criminal—unless a murderer, a traitor or a thief—might be pardoned by 
the person against whom the offence was committed. 

12. In 1682, William Penn and eleven other Friends purchased of the 
heirs of Carteret the province of East Jersey. Robert Barclay, an em¬ 
inent Quaker of Aberdeen, in Scotland, and author of the book calkd 
Barclay’s Apology, was appointed governor for life. The whole of New 
Jersey was now under the authority of the Friends. The administration 
of Barclay, which continued until his death, in 1690, was chiefly noted 
for a large immigration of Scotch Quakers who left the governor’s native 
country to find freedom in East Jersey. The persecuted Presbyterians of 
Scotland came to the province in still greater numbers. 

13. On the accession of James II., in 1685, the American colonies from 
Maine to Delaware were consolidated, and Edmund Andros appointed 
royal governor. His first year in America was spent in establishing his 
authority at Boston, Providence and Hartford. Not until 1688 were 
New York and the two Jerseys brought under his jurisdiction. The 
short reign of King James was already at an end before Andros could 
succeed in setting up a despotism on the ruin of colonial liberty. When 
the news came of the abdication and flight of the English monarch, the 
governor of New England could do nothing but surrender to the indig¬ 
nant people whom he had wronged and insulted. His arrest and im¬ 
prisonment was the signal for the restoration of popular government in all 
the colonies over which he had ruled. . 

14. But the condition of New Jersey was deplorable. It was almost 
impossible to tell to whom the jurisdiction of the territory rightfully be¬ 
longed. So far as the eastern province was concerned, the representatives 
of Carteret claimed it; the governor of New York claimed it; Penn and 
his associates claimed it. As to the western province, the heirs of Byllinge 
claimed it; Lucas, Laurie and Penn claimed it; the governor of New 
York claimed it. Over all these pretensions stood the paramount claim 
of the English king. From 1689 to 1692 there was no settled form of 
government in the territory; and for ten years thereafter the colony was 


172 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


vexed and distracted with the presence of more rulers than any one 
province could accommodate. 

15. At last self-interest solved the problem. The proprietors came to 
see that a peaceable possession of the soil of the Jerseys was worth more 
than the uncertain honors of government. A proposition was accordingly 
made that all the claimants should surrender their rights of civil jurisdic¬ 
tion to the English Crown, retaining only the ownership of the soil. The 
measure was successfully carried out; and in April of 1702, all propri¬ 
etary claims being waived in favor of the sovereign, the territory between 
the Hudson and the Delaware became a royal province. 

16. New Jersey was now attached to the government of Lord Corn- 
bur}' of New York. The union of the two colonies, however, extended 
only to the office of chief magistrate; each province retained its own legis¬ 
lative assembly and a distinct territorial organization. This method of 
government continued for thirty-six years, and was then terminated by 
the action of the people. In 1728 the representatives of New Jersey sent 
a petition to George II., praying for a separation of the two colonies : but 
the application was at first refused. Ten years later the petition was 
renewed, and through the influence of Lewis Morris brought to a success¬ 
ful issue. New Jersey was made independent, and Morris himself received 
a commission as first royal governor of the separated province. 

17. The people of New Jersey were but little disturbed by the succes¬ 
sive Indian wars. The native tribes on this part of the American coast 
were w r eak and timid. Had it not been for the cruelties of Ivieft and the 
wrongs of other governors of New York, the peace of the middle colonies 
would never have been broken. The province of New Jersey is specially 
interesting as being the point where the civilization of New England met 
and blended with the civilization of the South. Here the institutions, 
manners and laws of the Pilgrims were first modified by contact with the 
less rigid habits and opinions of the people who came with Gosnold and 
Smith. The dividing line between East and West Jersey is also the 
dividing line between the austere Puritans of Massachusetts and the 
chivalrous cavaliers of Virginia. Happily, along this dividing line the 
men of peace, the followers of Penn and Barclay, came and dwelt as if 
to subdue ill-will and make a Union possible. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


173 


CHAPTER V. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


rpiIE Quakers were greatly encouraged with the success of their col- 
-L onies in West New Jersey. The prospect of establishing on the 
banks of the Delaware a flee State, founded on the principle of universal 
brotherhood, kindled a new enthusiasm in the mind of William Penn. 
For more than a quarter of a century the Friends had been buffeted with 
shameful persecutions. Imprisonment, exile and proscription had been 
their constant portion, but had not sufficed to abate their zeal or to 
quench their hopes of the future. The lofty purpose and philanthropic 
spirit of Penn urged him to find for his afflicted people an asylum of rest. 
In June of 1680 he went boldly to King Charles, and petitioned for a 
grant of territory and the privilege of founding a Quaker commonwealth 
in the New World. 

2. The petition was seconded by powerful friends in Parliament. 
Lords North and Halifax and the earl of Sunderland favored the propo¬ 
sition, and the duke of York remembered a pledge of assistance which he 
had given to Penn’s father. On the 5th of March, 1681, a charter was 
granted; the great seal of England, with the signature of Charles II., was 
affixed; and William Penn became the proprietor of Pennsylvania. 
The vast domain embraced under the new patent was bounded on the 
east by the river Delaware, extended north and south over three degrees 
of latitude, and westward through five degrees of longitude. Only the 
three counties comprising the present State of Delaware were reserved for 
the duke of York. 

3. In consideration of this grant, Penn relinquished a claim of sixteen 
thousand pounds sterling which the British government owed to his 
father’s estate. He declared that his objects were to found a free com¬ 
monwealth without respect to the color, race or religion of the inhabitants ; 
to subdue the natives with no other weapons than love and justice; to 
establish a refuge for the people of his own faith; and to enlarge the 
borders of the British empire. One of the first acts of the great propri¬ 
etor was to address a letter to the Swedes who might be included within 


174 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


the limits of his province, telling them to be of good cheer, to keep their 
homes, make their own laws and fear no oppression. 

4. Within a month from the date of his charter, Penn published to the 
English nation a glowing account of his new country beyond the Del¬ 
aware, praising the beauty of the scenery and salubrity of the climate, 
promising freedom of conscience and equal rights, and inviting emigra¬ 
tion. There was an immediate and hearty response. In the course of 
the summer three shiploads of Quaker emigrants left England for the 
land of promise. William Markham, agent of the proprietor, came as 
leader of the company and deputy-governor of the province. He was 
instructed by Penn to rule in accordance with law, to deal justly with all 
men, and especially to make a league of friendship with die Indians. In 
October of the same year the anxious proprietor sent a letter directly to 
the natives of the territory, assuring them of his honest purposes and 
brotherly affection. 

5. The next care of Penn was to draw up a frame of government for 
his province. Herein was his great temptation. He had almost ex¬ 
hausted his father’s estate in aiding the persecuted Quakers. A stated 
revenue would be very necessary in conducting his administration. His 
proprietary rights under the charter were so ample that he might easily 
reserve for himself large prerogatives and great emoluments in the govern¬ 
ment. He had before him the option of being a consistent, honest 
Quaker or a politic, wealthy governor. He chose like a man; right 
triumphed over riches. The constitution which he framed was liberal 
almost to a fault; and the people were allowed to adopt or reject it as 
they might deem proper. 

6. In the mean time, the duke of York had been induced to surrender 
his claim to the three reserved counties on the Delaware. The whole 
country on the western bank of the bay and river, from the open ocean 
below Cape Henlopen to the forty-third degree of north latitude, was now 
under the dominion of Penn. The summer of 1682 was spent in 
further preparation. The proprietor wrote a touching letter of farewell 
to the Friends in England; gathered a large company of emigrants; em¬ 
barked for America; and on the 27th of October landed at Yew Castle, 
where the people were waiting to receive him. 

7. William Penn, the founder of Philadelphia, was born on the 14th 
of October, 1644. He was the oldest son of Vice-Admiral Sir William 
Penn of the British navy. At the age of twelve he was sent to the 
University of Oxford, where he distinguished himself as a student until 
he was expelled on account of his religious opinions. Afterward he 
traveled on the Continent; was again a student at Saumur; returned to 


PENNS YL VANIA. 


175 



stud} law at London; went to Ireland; became a soldier; heard the 
preaching of Loe and was converted to the Quaker faith. His disap¬ 
pointed and angry 
father drove him 
out of doors, but 
he was not to be 
turned from his 
course. He pub¬ 
licly proclaimed 
the doctrines of the 
I riends ; was ar¬ 
rested and impris¬ 
oned for nine 
months in the Tow¬ 
er < >fLondon. Be¬ 
ing released, he re¬ 
peated the offence, 
and lay for half a 
year in a dungeon 
at Newgate. A 
second time liber¬ 
ated, but despair¬ 
ing of toleration for 
his people in Eng¬ 
land, he CaSt his WILLIAM PENN. 

gaze across the Atlantic. West Jersey was purchased ; but the boundary 
was narrow, and the great-souled proprietor sought a grander and more 
beautiful domain. His petition was heard with favor and the charter of 
Pennsylvania granted by King Charles. Colonists came teeming; and 
now the Quaker king himself, without pomp or parade, without the dis¬ 
charge of cannon or vainglorious ceremony, was come to New Castle to 
found a government on the basis of fraternity and peace. It was fitting 
that he should call the new republic a holy experiment. 

8. As soon as the landing was effected, Penn delivered an affectionate 
and cheerful address to the crowd of Swedes, Dutch and English who 
came to greet him. His former pledges of a liberal and just government 
were publicly renewed, and the people were exhorted to sobriety and 
honesty. From New Castle the governor ascended the Delaware to Ches¬ 
ter : passed the site of Philadelphia; visited the settlements of West New 
Jersey; and thence traversed East Jersey to Long Island and New York. 
After spending some time at the capital of his friend, the duke of York, 


176 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


and speaking words of cheer to the Quakers about Brooklyn, he returned 1 
to his own province and began his duties as chief magistrate. 

9. Markham, the deputy-governor, had been instructed to establish 
fraternal relations with the Indians. Before Penn’s arrival treaties had 
been made, lands purchased, and pledges of friendship given between the 
Friends and the Red men. Now a great conference was appointed with the 
native chiefs. All the sachems of the Lenni Lenapes and other neighbor¬ 
ing tribes were invited to assemble. The council was held on the banks 
of the Delaware under the open sky. Penn, accompanied by a few un¬ 
armed friends, clad in the simple garb of the Quakers, came to the ap¬ 
pointed spot and took his station under a venerable elm, now leafless; for 
it was winter. The chieftains, also unarmed, sat, after the manner of 
their race, in a semicircle on the ground. It was not Penn’s object to- 
purchase lands, to provide for the interests of trade or to make a formal 
treaty, but rather to assure the untutored children of the woods of his- 
honest purposes and brotherly affection. Standing before them with 
grave demeanor and speaking by an interpreter, he said : “ My Friends: 
We have met on the broad pathway of good faith. We are all one flesh 
and blood. Being brethren, no advantage shall be taken on either side. 
When disputes arise, we will settle them in council. Between us there 
shall be nothing but openness and love.” The chiefs replied: “While 
the rivers run and the sun shines we will live in peace with the children 
of William Penn.” 

10. No record was made of the treaty, for none was needed. Its terms 
were written, not on decaying parchment, but on the living hearts of 
men. No deed of violence or injustice ever marred the sacred covenant. 
The Indians vied with the Quakers in keeping unbroken the pledge of 
perpetual peace. For more than seventy years during which the province 
remained under the control of the Friends, not a single war-whoop was 
heard within the borders of Pennsylvania. The Quaker hat and coat- 
proved to be a better defence for the wearer than coat-of-mail and 
musket. 

11. On the 4th of December, 1682, a general convention was held at 
Chester. The object was to complete the territorial legislation—a work 
which occupied three days. At the conclusion of the session, Penn de¬ 
livered an address to the assembly, and then hastened to the Chesapeake 
to confer with Lord Baltimore about the boundaries of their respective 
provinces. After a month’s absence he returned to Chester and busied 
himself with drawing a map of his proposed capital. The beautiful neck 
of land between the Schuylkill and the Delaware was selected and pur¬ 
chased of the Swedes. In February of 1683 the native chestnuts, wal- 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


177 



PHILADELPHIA AND VICINITY. 


nuts and ashes were blazed to indicate the lines of the streets, and Phil¬ 
adelphia—City of Brotherly Love —was founded. Within a 
month a general assembly was in session at the new capital. The people 
were eager that their Charter of Liberties, now to be framed, should be 
dated at Philadelphia. The work of 
legislation was begun and a form of 
government adopted which was essen¬ 
tially a representative democracy. The 
leading officers were the governor, a 
council consisting of a limited number 
of members chosen for three years, 
and a larger popular assembly, to be 
annually elected. Penn conceded 
everything to the people; but the 
power of vetoing objectionable acts of 
the council was left in his hands. 

12. The growth of Philadelphia 
was astonishing. In the summer of 
1683 there were only three or four 

houses. The ground-squirrels still lived in their burrows, and the wild 
deer ran through the town without alarm. In 1685 the city contained 
six hundred houses; the schoolmaster had come and the printing-press 
had begun its work. In another year Philadelphia had outgrown New 
York. Penn’s work of establishing a free State in America had been 
well and nobly, done. In August of 1684 he took an affectionate fare¬ 
well of his flourishing colony, and sailed for England. Thomas Lloyd 
was appointed as president during the absence of the proprietor, and five 
commissioners, members of the provincial council, were chosen to assist 
in the government. 

13. Nothing occurred to disturb the peace of Pennsylvania until the 
secession of Delaware in 1691. The three lower counties, which, ever 
since the arrival of Penn, had been united on terms of equality with the 
six counties of Pennsylvania, became dissatisfied with some acts of the 
general assembly and insisted on a separation. The proprietor gave a 
reluctant consent; Delaware withdrew from the union and received a 
separate deputy-governor. Such was the condition of affairs after the 
abdication of King James II. 

14. William Penn was a friend and favorite of the Stuart kings. It 
was from Charles II. that he had received the charter of Pennsylvania. 
Now that the royal house was overthrown, he sympathized with the fallen 
monarch and looked with coldness on the new sovereigns, William and 







178 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Mary. For some real or supposed adherence to the cause of the exiled 
James II., Penn was several times arrested and imprisoned. In 1692 
his proprietary rights were taken away, and by a royal commission the 
government of Pennsylvania was transferred to Fletcher of New York. 
In the following year Delaware shared the same fate; all the provinces 
between Connecticut and Maryland were consolidated under Fletcher’s 
authority. In the mean time, the suspicions against Penn’s loyalty were 
found to be groundless, and he was restored to his rights as governor of 
Pennsylvania. 

15. In December of 1699, Penn again visited his American common¬ 
wealth, now grown into a State. The prosperity of the province was all 
that could be desired; but the people were somewhat dissatisfied with the 
forms of government. The lower counties were again embittered against 
the acts of the assembly. In order to restore peace and harmony, the 
benevolent proprietor drew up another constitution, more liberal than the 
first, extending the powers of the people and omitting the objectionable 
features of the former charter. But Delaware had fallen into chronic 
discontent, and would not accept the new frame of government. In 1702 
the general assemblies of the two provinces were convened apart; and in 
the following year Delaware and Pennsylvania were finally separated. 
But the rights of Penn as proprietor of the whole territory remained as 
before, and a common governor continued to preside over both colonies. 

16. In the winter of 1701, William Penn bade a final adieu to his 
friends in America and returned to England. The English ministers had 
formed the design of abolishing all the proprietary governments, with a 
view to the establishment of royal governments instead. The presence 
and influence of Penn were especially required in England in order to 
prevent the success of the ministerial scheme. After much controversy 
his rights were recognized and secured against encroachment. But the 
end of his labors was at hand. In July of 1718 the magnanimous 
founder of Pennsylvania sank to his final rest. His estates, vast and 
valuable, but much encumbered with debt, were bequeathed to his three 
sons, John, Thomas and Richard, who thus became proprietors of Penn¬ 
sylvania. By them, or their deputies, the province was governed until 
the American Revolution. In the year 1779 the entire claims of the 
Penn family to the soil and jurisdiction of the State were purchased by 
the legislature of Pennsylvania for a hundred and thirty thousand pounds 
sterling. 

17. The colonial history of the State founded by William Penn and the 
Quakers is one of special interest and pleasure. It is a narrative that 
recounts the victories of peace and the triumph of the nobier virtues over 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


179 


violence and wrong. It is doubtful whether the history of any other 
colony in the world is touched with so many traits of innooence and 
truth. When the nations grow mercenary and the times seem full of 
fraud, the early annals of Pennsylvania may well be recited as a per¬ 
petual protest against the seeming success of evil. “ I will found a free 
colony for all mankind,” were the words of William Penn. How well 
his work was done shall be fitly told when the bells of his capital city 
shall ring out the first glad notes of American Independence. 


RECAPITULATION. 


CHAPTER I. 

The East India Company govern Manhattan.—A colony is sent from Holland.—A 
charter is granted to the West India Company.—The Walloons arrive at New Amster¬ 
dam.—May builds Fort Nassau.—And Joris, Fort Orange.—Civil government begins in 
New Netherland.—May is governor.—And then Verhulst.—And Minuit.—Manhattan is 
purchased.—And fortified.—Friendly relations are established between the Walloons and 
the Puritans.—The Dutch devote themselves to the fur-trade.—Growth of the colony.— 
A charter is granted.—The patroons.—Five manors are laid out.—Delaware is colonized. 
—And then abandoned.—Van Twiller succeeds Minuit.—A fort is built at Hartford.— 
The English claim the Connecticut.—Sweden purposes to plant an American colony.— 
The project is delayed.—But renewed by Minuit.—A Swedish colony reaches the Dela¬ 
ware.—Settles at Christiana.—Is prosperous.—And New Netherland is jealous.—Fort 
Nassau is rebuilt.—Printz removes to Tinicum.—The Indians are provoked by the 
Dutch.—War breaks out.—A desultory contest.—The Mohawks come.—Kieft massacres 
the Algonquins.—The war continues.—Fate of Mrs. Hutchinson.—Underhill conquers 
the Indians.—Kieft the author of the war.—De Vries succeeds him. 


CHAPTER II. 

Stuyvesant is appointed governor.—Peace established with the Indians.—Free trade 
succeeds monopoly.—Growth of the colony.—A boundary is established between New 
England and New Netherland.—The Dutch again claim New Sweden.—Build Fort 
Casimir.—The place is captured by the Swedes.—Stuyvesant conquers and annexes New 
Sweden.—The Algonquins rebel.—And are subdued.—The Indians of Ulster rise.—Burn 
Esopus.—Are punished.—Stuyvesant is troubled about his boundaries.—Domestic diffi¬ 
culties.—New Netherland lags.—The Dutch prefer English laws.—The province is 
granted to the duke of York.—The duke makes good his claim.—Sends out Nicolls.— 
And conquers New Netherland. 




180 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER III. 

Nicolls settles the boundaries of New York.—New Jersey is granted to Berkeley and 
Carteret.—Is claimed by Nicolls.—But the claim is set aside.—The Territories.—The 
Dutch claim liberty.—Are disappointed.—New land-titles are issued.—Lovelace succeeds 
Nicolls.—And is resisted by the people.—His tyranny.—Friendship of the English and 
the Dutch.—War with Holland.—Evertsen reconquers New York.—But the province is 
restored to England.—Andros begins his government.—Proves himself a despot.—Claims 
the country from the Connecticut to Maryland.—Goes to Saybrook—Is baffled by Cap¬ 
tain Bull.—Attempts to overawe New Jersey.—And fails.—Delaware is separated from 
New York.—And joined to Pennsylvania.—Dongan becomes governor.—The right of 
representation is conceded.—Character of the Constitution.—A treaty is made with the 
Iroquois.—The duke of York becomes king.—And overthrows colonial liberties.— 
Andros is sent out as governor of New England.—Usurps the governments of all the 
colonies north of the Delaware.—Leisler’s insurrection.—The province yields to his 
authority.—Schenectady is burned.—Ingoldsby arrives as governor.—Leisler and Mil- 
borne are arrested.—Tried.—And hanged.—The Iroquois treaty is renewed.—The In¬ 
dians make war on the French.—The assembly declares against arbitrary authority. 
—Fletcher becomes governor.—Attempts to usurp the government of Connecticut and 
New Jersey.—Is defeated.—Effort to establish the Episcopal Church.—The project fails. 
—The French invade New York.—Are repelled.—Bellomont becomes governor.—The 
career of Captain Kidd.—Cornbury succeeds Bellomont.—New Jersey is annexed to 
New York.—Cornbury’s fraudulent administration.—He is overthrown.—And succeeded 
by Lovelace.—An unsuccessful expedition is made against Montreal.—The fleet also fails. 
—New York is in debt.—The treaty of Utrecht.—The Tuscarora migration.—A fort is 
built at Oswego.—The French fortify Niagara and Crown Point.—Cosby is sent out as 
governor.—Assails the freedom of the press.—The trial of Zenger.—The negro plot.— 
French invasions of New York.—Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.—Reflections. 


CHAPTER IV. 

Early settlements in New Jersey.—At Bergen.—And Fort Nassau.—The province is 
granted to Berkeley and Carteret.—Nicolls makes a grant to Puritans.—Elizabethtown 
is founded.—Nicolls contends with the Carterets.—The proprietors frame a constitution. 
—Character of the laws.—The quit-rents.—The colonists resist payment.—Philip Car¬ 
teret is deposed.—And James Carteret becomes governor.—New Jersey is retaken by 
Holland.—And again ceded to England.—The duke of York has his charter renewed.— 
Andros comes as governor.—Carteret resists.—Berkeley sells West Jersey to Fenwick.— 
Philip Carteret and Andros dispute about the Eastern province.—Laurie, Lucas and 
Penn buy West Jersey.—Object of the purchase.—New Jersey is divided.—Line of divis¬ 
ion.—The proprietors of West Jersey issue the Concessions.—The Quakers colonize West 
Jersey.—The duke of York claims the country.—Sir William Jones decides against 
him.—Andros’s claim to East Jersey is annulled.—The Quakers convene an assembly.— 
And frame a constitution.—East Jersey is purchased by the Friends.—Barclay is gov¬ 
ernor.—The two Jerseys submit to Andros.—And afterward regain their liberties.— 
Conflicting claims to the country.—Discord.—The proprietors surrender their rights 
of government to the Crown.—New Jersey becomes a royal province.—Is attached to 
New York under Cornbury.—The people petition for a separation.—Which is granted. 
—Morris becomes governor.—New Jersey not injured by Indian wars.—Reflections. 


RECAPITULATION. 


181 


CHAPTER V. 

The Friends are persecuted in Europe.—Penn designs to plant a Quaker State in 
America.—Charles II. grants the charter of Pennsylvania.—Penn relinquishes his claims 
on the British government.—Declares his purposes.—Writes a letter to the Swedes.— 
Invites emigration.—A colony departs under Markham.—The Indians are assured of 
friendship.— Penn frames a constitution.—The duke of York surrenders Delaware.—Ex¬ 
tent of Penn’s dominion.—He leaves England with a second colony.—Sketch of his life. 
—He addresses the people at New Castle.—Passes through the Jerseys to New York.— 
Returns.—Makes the great treaty with the Indians.—Which is kept inviolate.—A con¬ 
vention is held at Chester.—A provisional constitution is adopted.—Penn visits Lord 
Baltimore.—Philadelphia is founded.—Growth of the city.—Penn sails for England.— 
Lloyd remains as governor.—Delaware secedes.—Penn adheres to the Stuarts.—Is im¬ 
prisoned.—His province is taken away.—But afterward restored.—Penn revisits America. 
—The constitution is modified.—Delaware is finally separated.—Penn returns to Eng¬ 
land.—Dies.—His sons become proprietors of Pennsylvania.—The province is purchased 
by the colonial assembly.—Reflections. 


COLONIAL HISTORY.— Continued. 

A. I>. 1630—1754. 

SOUTHERN COLONIES. 


CHAPTER I. 


MARYLAND. 


C APTAIN JOHN SMITH was the first white man to explore the 
Chesapeake and its tributaries. After him, in 1621, William Clay- 
borne, a resolute and daring English surveyor, was sent out by the 
London Company to make a map of the country about the head-waters 
of the bay. By the second charter of Virginia the territory of that 
province had been extended on the north to the forty-first parallel of 
latitude. All of the present State of Maryland was included in this 
enlargement, which also embraced the whole of Delaware and the greater 
part of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The ambition of Virginia was 
greatly excited by the possession of this vast domain; to explore and 
occupy it was an enterprise of the highest importance. 

2. Clay borne was a member of the council of Virginia, and secretary 
of state in that colony. In May of 1631 he received a royal commission 
authorizing him to discover the sources of the Chesapeake Bay, to survey 
the country as far as the forty-first degree of latitude, to establish a trade 
with the Indians, and to exercise the right of government over the com¬ 
panions of his voyage. This commission was confirmed by Governor 
Harvey of Virginia, and in the spring of the following year Clayborne 
began his important and arduous work. The members of the London 
Company were already gathering imaginary riches from the immense fur- 
trade of the Potomac and the Susquehanna. 

3. The enterprise of Clayborne was attended with success. A trading- 
post was established on Kent Island, and another at the head of the bay, 
in the vicinity of Havre de Grace. The many rivers that fall into the 
Chesapeake were again explored and a trade opened with the natives. 
The limits of Virginia were about to be extended to the borders of New 
Netherland. But in the mean time, a train of circumstances had been 
182 



MARYLAND. 


183 



prepared in England by which the destiny of several American provinces 
was completely changed. As in many other instances, religious perse¬ 
cution again contributed to lay the foundation of a new State in the 
wilderness. And Sir George Calvert, of Yorkshire, was the man who 
was destined to become the founder. Born in 1580; educated at Oxford; 
a man of much travel and vast experience; an ardent and devoted Cath¬ 
olic; a friend of hu¬ 
manity ; honored with 
knighthood, and after¬ 
ward with an Irish 
peerage and the title 
of Lord Baltimore, 
—he now in middle 
life turned aside from 
the dignities of rank 
and affluence to devote 
the energies of his life 
to the welfare of the 
oppressed. For the 
Catholics of England, 
as well as the dissent¬ 
ing Protestants, were 
afflicted with many 
and bitter persecu¬ 
tions. 

4. Lord Baltimore’s 
first American enter- 
IiOrd Baltimore. prise was the planting 

of a Catholic colony 

in Newfoundland. King James, who was not unfriendly to the Roman 
Church, had granted him a patent for the southern promontory of the 
island; and here, in 1623, a refuge was established for distressed Cath¬ 
olics. But in such a place no colony could be successful. The district 
was narrow, cheerless, desolate. Profitable industry was impossible. 
French ships hovered around the coast and captured the English fishing- 
boats. It became evident that the settlement must be removed, and Lord 
Baltimore wisely turned his attention to the sunny country of the Ches¬ 
apeake. 

5. In 1629 he made a visit to Virginia. The general assembly offered 
him citizenship on condition that he would take an oath of allegiance; 
but the oath was of such a sort as no honest Catholic could subscribe to. 



184 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


In vain did Sir George plead for toleration; the assembly was inexorable. 
It was on the part of the Virginians a short-sighted and ruinous policy. 
For the London Company had already been dissolved; the king might 
therefore rightfully regrant that vast territory north of the Potomac 
which by the terms of the second charter had been given to Virginia. 
Lord Baltimore left the narrow-minded legislators, returned to London, 
himself drew up a charter for a new State on the Chesapeake, and easily 
induced his friend, King Charles I., to sign it. The Virginians had 
saved their religion and lost a province. 

6. The territory embraced by the new patent was bounded by the 
ocean, by the fortieth parallel of latitude, by a line drawn due south from 
that parallel to the most western fountain of the Potomac, by the river 
itself from its source to the bay, and bv a line running due east from the 
mouth of the river to the Atlantic. The domain included the whole of 
the present States of Maryland and Delaware and a large part of Penn¬ 
sylvania and New Jersey. Here it was the purpose of the magnanimous 
proprietor to establish an asylum for all the afflicted of his own faith, and 
to plant a State on the broad basis of religious toleration and popular lib¬ 
erty. The provisions of the charter were the most liberal and ample which 
had ever received the sanction of the English government. Christianity 
was declared to be the religion of the State, but no preference was given 
to any sect or creed. The lives and property of the colonists were care¬ 
fully guarded. Free trade was declared to be the law of the province, 
and arbitrary taxation was forbidden. The rights of the proprietor ex¬ 
tended only to the free appointment of the officers of his government. The 
power of making and amending the laws was conceded to the freemen of 
the colony or their representatives. 

7. One calamity darkened the prospect. Before the liberal patent could 
receive the seal of State Sir George Calvert died. His title and estates 
descended to his son Cecil; and to him, on the 20th of June, 1632, the 
charter which had been intended for his noble father was finally issued. 
In honor of Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV. of France and 
wife of Charles I., the name of Maryland was conferred on the new 
province. Independence of Virginia was guaranteed in the constitution 
of the colony, and no danger was to be anticipated from the feeble forces 
of New Netherland. It only remained for the younger Lord Baltimore 
to raise a company of emigrants and carry out his father’s benevolent 
designs. The work went forward slowly, and it was not until November 
of 1633 that a colony numbering two hundred persons could be collected. 
Meanwhile, Cecil Calvert had abandoned the idea of coming in person to 
America, and had appointed his brother Leonard to accompany the col- 


MARYLAND. 


185 


onists to their destination, and to act as deputy-governor of the new 
province. 

8. In March of the following year the immigrants arrived at Old 
Point Comfort. Leonard Calvert bore a letter from King Charles to 
Governor Harvey of Virginia, commanding him to receive the new¬ 
comers with courtesy and favor. The order was complied with; but the 
Virginians could look only with intense jealousy on a movement which 
must soon deprive them of the rich fur-trade of the Chesapeake. The 
colonists proceeded up the bay and entered the Potomac. At the mouth 
of Piscataway Creek, nearly opposite Mount Vernon, the pinnace was 
moored, and a cross was set up on an island. On the present site of Fort 
Washington there was an Indian village whose inhabitants came out to 
meet the English. A conference was held, and the sachem of the nation 
told Leonard Calvert in words of dubious meaning that he and his colony 
might stay or go just as they pleased. Considering this answer as a 
menace, and deeming it imprudent to plant his first settlement so far up 
the river, Calvert again embarked with his companions, and dropped down 
stream to the mouth of the St. Mary’s, within fifteen miles of the bay. 
Ascending the estuary for about ten miles, he came to an Indian town. 
The natives had been beaten in battle by the Susquehannas, and were on 
the eve of migrating into the interior. The village was already half 
deserted. With the consent of the Red men, the English moved into the 
vacant huts. The rest of the town was purchased, with the adjacent ter¬ 
ritory, the Indians promising to give possession at the opening of the 
spring. The name of St. Mary’s was given to this the oldest colony of 
Maryland, and the name of the river was changed to St. George’s. 

9. Calvert treated the natives with great liberality. The consequence 
was that the settlers had peace and plenty. The Indian women taught 
the wives of the English how to make corn-bread, and the friendly war¬ 
riors instructed the colonists in the mysteries of hunting. Game was 
abundant. The lands adjacent to the village were already under cultiva¬ 
tion. The settlers had little to do but to plant their gardens and fields 
and wait for the coming harvest. There was neither anxiety nor want. 
The dream of Sir George Calvert was realized. Within six months the 
colony of St. Mary’s had grown into greater prosperity than the settle¬ 
ment at Jamestown had reached in as many years. Best of all, the pledge 
of civil liberty and religious toleration was redeemed to the letter. Two 
years before the founding of Rhode Island the Catholics of the Ches¬ 
apeake had emancipated the human conscience, built an asylum for the 
distressed, and laid the foundations of a free State. 

10. Within less than a year after the founding of St. Mary’s the free- 


186 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


men were convened in a general assembly. In February of 1635 the 
work of colonial legislation was first begun. The records of this and 
several succeeding sessions were destroyed in the rebellion of 1645, 
and not much is known concerning the character of the earliest laws. 
But it is certain that the province was involved in difficulty. For Clay- 
borne still stood his ground on Kent Island, and openly resisted Lord 
Baltimore’s authority. His settlement on the island was almost as strong 
as the colony at St. Mary’s; and Clayborne, unscrupulous as to the 
right, and confident in his power, resolved to appeal to arms. In 1637 
a bloody skirmish occurred on the banks of the river Wicomico, on the 
eastern shore of the bay. Several lives were lost, but the insurgents were 
defeated. Calvert’s forces proceeded to Kent Island, overpowered the 
settlement, and executed one or two persons who had participated in the 
rebellion. 

11. Clayborne, in the mean time, had escaped into Virginia. The 
assembly of Maryland demanded the fugitive; but the governor refused, 
and sent the prisoner to England for trial. The legislators of St. Mary’s 
charged the absent criminal with murder and piracy, tried him, con¬ 
demned him and confiscated his estates. Clayborne, who was safe in 
England, appealed to the king. The cause was heard by a committee of 
Parliament, and it was decided that the commission of Clayborne, which 
was only a license to trade in the Chesapeake, had been annulled by the 
dissolution of the London Company, and that the charter of Lord Balti¬ 
more was valid against all opposing claimants. Clayborne, however, was 
allowed to go at large. 

12. In 1639 a regular representative government was established in 

Maryland. Hitherto a system of popular democracy had prevailed in the 

province; each freeman had been allowed a vote in determining the laws. 

With the growth of the colony it was deemed expedient to substitute the 

more convenient method of representation. When the delegates came 

together, a declaration of rights was adopted, and the prerogative of the 

proprietor more clearly defined. All the broad and liberal principles of 

the colonial patent were reaffirmed. The powers of the assembly were 

made coextensive with those of the House of Commons in England. 

© 

The rights of citizenship were declared to be identical with those of Eng¬ 
lish subjects in the mother country. 

13. The Indians of Maryland and Virginia had now grown jealous of 
foreign encroachments. Vague rumors of the English Revolution had 
been borne to the Red men, and they believed themselves able to expel 
the intruders from the country. In 1642 hostilities were begun on the 
Potomac, and for two years the province was involved in war. But the 


MARYLAND. 


187 


settlements of Maryland were few and compact, and no great suffering 
was occasioned by the onsets of the barbarians. In 1644 the savages 
agreed to bury the hatchet and to renew the broken pledges of friendship. 
Hardly, however, had the echo of Indian warfare died away, when the 
colony was visited with a worse calamity by the return of its old enemy, 
William Clayborne. 

14. He came to find revenge, and found it. The king was now at 
war with his subjects, and could give no aid to the proprietor of an 
American province. Clayborne saw his opportunity, hurried to Mary¬ 
land, and raised the standard of rebellion. Arriving in the province in 
1644, lie began to sow the seeds of sedition by telling the restless and 
lawless spirits of the colony that they were wronged and oppressed by a 
usurping government. Early in 1645 an insurrection broke out. Com¬ 
panies of desperate men came together, and found in Clayborne a natural 
leader. The government of Leonard Calvert was overthrown, and the 
governor obliged to fly for his life. Escaping from the province, he found 
refuge and protection with Sir William Berkeley of Virginia. Clayborne 
seized the colonial records of Maryland, and destroyed them. One act of 
violence followed another. The government was usurped, and for more 
than a year the colony was under the dominion of the insurgents. Mean¬ 
while, however, Governor Calvert collected his forces, returned to the 
province, defeated the rebels, and in August of 1646 succeeded in restor¬ 
ing his authority. It marks the mild and humane spirit of the Calverts 
that those engaged in this unjustifiable insurrection were pardoned by a 
general amnesty. 

15. The acts of the provincial legislature in 1649 were of special im¬ 
portance. It was enacted in broad terms that no person believing in the 
fundamental doctrines of Christianity should, on account of his religious 
opinions or practices, be in any wise distressed within the borders of 
Maryland. It was declared a finable offence for citizens to apply to each 
other the opprobrious names used in religious controversy. Freedom of 
conscience was reiterated with a distinctness that could not be misunder¬ 
stood. While Massachusetts was attempting by proscription to establish 
Puritanism as the faith of New England, and while the Episcopalians of 
Jamestown were endeavoring by exclusive legislation to make the Church 
of England the Church of Virginia, Maryland was joining with Rhode 
Island and Connecticut in proclaiming religious freedom. It sometimes 
happened in those days that Protestants escaping from Protestants found 
an asylum with the Catholic colonists of the Chesapeake. 

16. In 1650 the legislative body of Maryland was divided into two 
branches. The upper house consisted of the governor and members of 


188 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


his council appointed by the proprietor. The lower house, or general 
assembly, was composed of burgesses elected by the people of the province. 
Again the rights of Lord Baltimore were carefully defined by provincial 
law. An act was also passed declaring that no taxes should be levied 
without the consent of the assembly. Such was the condition of affairs 
in the colony when the commonwealth was established in England. Par¬ 
liament was now the supreme power in the mother country, and it could 
hardly be expected that Lord Baltimore’s charter would be allowed to 
stand. 

17. In 1651 parliamentary commissioners were appointed to come to 
America and assume control of the colonies bordering on the Chesapeake. 
Clayborne was a member of the body thus appointed. When the com¬ 
missioners arrived in Maryland, Stone, the deputy of Lord Baltimore, 
was deposed from office. A compromise was presently effected between 
the adherents of the proprietor and the opposing faction; and in June of 
the following year, Stone, with three members of his council, was per¬ 
mitted to resume the government. In April of 1653 the Long Par¬ 
liament, by whose authority the commissioners had been appointed, was 
dissolved. Stone thereupon published a proclamation declaring that the 
recent interference of Clayborne and his associates had been a rebellious 
usurpation. Clayborne, enraged at this proclamation, collected a force in 
Virginia, returned into Maryland, again drove Stone out of office, and 
entrusted the government to ten commissioners appointed by himself. 

18. The Puritan and republican party in Maryland had now grown 
sufficiently strong to defy the proprietor and the Catholics. A Protestant 
assembly was convened at Patuxent in October of 1654. The first act 
was to acknowledge the supremacy of Cromwell; the next to disfranchise 
the Catholics and to deprive them of the protection of the laws. The un¬ 
grateful representatives seemed to forget that if Lord Baltimore had been 
equally intolerant not one of them would have had even a residence 
within the limits of Maryland. It would be difficult to find a more 
odious piece of legislation than that of the assembly at Patuxent. Of 
course the Catholic party would not submit to a code by which they were 
virtually banished from their own province. 

19. Civil war ensued. Governor Stone organized and armed the 
militia, seized the records of the colony, and marched against the oppos¬ 
ing forces. A decisive battle was fought just across the estuary from the 
present site of Annapolis. The Catholics were defeated, with a loss of 
fifty men in killed and wounded. Stone himself was taken prisoner, and 
was only saved from death by the personal friendship of some of the in¬ 
surgents. Three of the Catholic leaders were tried by a court-martial 


MARYLAND. 


189 


and executed. Cromwell paid but little attention to these atrocities, and 
made no effort to sustain the government of Lord Baltimore. 

20. In 1656 Josias Fendall, a weak and impetuous man, was sent out 
by the proprietor as governor of the province. There was now a Cath¬ 
olic insurrection with Fendall at the head. For two years the govern¬ 
ment was divided, the Catholics exercising authority at St. Mary’s, and 
the Protestants at Leonardstown. At length, in March of 1658, a com 
promise was effected; Fendall was acknowledged as governor, and the 
acts of the recent Protestant assemblies were recognized as valid. A gen¬ 
eral amnesty was published, and the colony was again at peace. 

21. When the death of Cromwell was announced in Maryland, the 
provincial authorities were much perplexed. One of four courses might 
be pursued: Richard Cromwell might be recognized as protector; Charles 
II. might be proclaimed as king; Lord Baltimore might be acknowledged 
as hereditary proprietor; colonial independence might be declared. The 
latter policy was adopted by the assembly. On the 12th of March, 1660, 
the rights of Lord Baltimore were formally set aside; the provincial 
council was dissolved, and the whole power of government was assumed 
by the House of Burgesses. The act of independence was adopted just 
one day before a similar resolution was passed by the general assembly of 
Virginia. The population of Maryland had now reached ten thousand. 

22. On the restoration of monarchy the rights of the Baltimores were 
again recognized, and Philip Calvert was sent out as deputy-governor. In 
the mean time, Fendall had resigned his trust as agent of the proprietor, 
and had accepted an election by the people. He was now repaid for his 
double-dealing with an arrest, a trial and a condemnation on a charge 
of treason. Nothing saved his life but the clemency of Lord Baltimore, 
who, with his customary magnanimity, proclaimed a general pardon. 

23. Sir Cecil Calvert died in 1675, and his son Charles, a young man 
who had inherited the virtues of the illustrious family, succeeded to the 
estates and title of Baltimore. For sixteen years he exercised the rights 
of proprietary governor of Maryland. The laws of the province were 
carefully revised, and the liberal principles of the original charter re¬ 
affirmed as the basis of the State. Only once during this period was the 
happiness of the colony disturbed. When the news arrived of the abdi¬ 
cation of King James II., the deputy of Lord Baltimore hesitated to 
acknowledge the new sovereigns, William and Mary. An absurd rumor 
was spread abroad that the Catholics had leagued with the Indians for 
the purpose of destroying the Protestants of Maryland in a general mas¬ 
sacre. An opposing force was organized; and in 1689 the Catholic party 
was compelled to surrender the government. For two years the Protest- 


190 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


ants held the province, and civil authority was exercised by a body called 
the Convention of Associates. 

24. On the 1st day of June, 1691, the government of Maryland was 
revolutionized by the act of King William. The charter of Lord Balti¬ 
more was arbitrarily taken away, and a royal governor appointed over the 
province. Sir Lionel Copley received a commission, and assumed the 
government in 1692. Every vestige of the old patent was swept away. 
The Episcopal Church was established by law and supported by taxation. 
Religious toleration was abolished and the government administered on 
despotic principles. This condition of affairs continued until 1715, when 
Queen Anne was induced to restore the heir of Lord Baltimore to the 
rights of his ancestor. Maryland again became a proprietary government 
under the authority of the Calverts, and so remained until the Revolu¬ 
tionary war. 

25. The early history of the colony planted by the first Lord Balti¬ 
more on the shores of the Chesapeake is full of profitable instruction. In 
no other American province were the essential vices of intolerance more 
clearly manifested; in no other did the principle of religious freedom 
shine with a brighter lustre. Nor will the thoughtful student fail to 
observe how the severe dogmas of Catholicism were softened down when 
brought into contact with the ennobling virtues of the Calverts, until over 
river and bay and shore a mellow light was diffused like a halo shining 
from the altars of the ancient Church. 


CHAPTER II. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

rjlHE first effort to colonize North Carolina was made by Sir Walter 
-L Raleigh. In 1630 an immense tract lying between the thirtieth and 
the thirty-sixth parallels of latitude was granted by King Charles to Sir 
Robert Heath. But neither the proprietor nor his successor, Lord Mal- 
travers, succeeded in planting a colony. After a useless existence of 
thirty-three years, the patent was revoked by the English sovereign. The 
only effect of Sir Robert’s charter was to perpetuate the name of Carolina, 
which had been given to the country by John Ribault in 1562. 

2. In the year 1622 the country as far south as the river Chowan was 



NORTH CAROLINA. 


191 


explored by Pory, the secretary of Virginia. Twenty years later a com¬ 
pany of Virginians obtained leave of the assembly to prosecute discovery 
on the lower Roanoke and establish a trade with the natives. The first 
actual settlement was made near the mouth of the Chowan about the year 
1651. The country was visited just afterward by Clayborne of Maryland, 
and in 1661 a company of Puritans from New England passed down the 
coast, entered the mouth of Cape Fear River, purchased lands of the 
Indians and established a colony on Oldtown Creek, nearly two hundred 
miles farther south than any other English settlement. In 1663 Lord 
Clarendon, General Monk, who was now honored with the title of duke 
of Albemarle, and six other noblemen, received at the hands of Charles 
II. a patent for all the country between the thirty-sixth parallel and the 
river St. John’s, in Florida. With this grant the colonial history of 
North Carolina properly begins. 

3. In the same year a civil government was organized by the settlers 
on the Chowan. William Drummond was chosen governor, and the 
name of Albemarle County Colony was given to the district border¬ 
ing on the sound. In 1665 it was found that the settlement was north 
of the thirty-sixth parallel, and consequently beyond the limits of the 
province. To remedy this defect the grant was extended on the north to 
thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes, the present boundary of Virginia, 
and westward to the Pacific. During the same year the little Puritan 
colony on Cape Fear River was broken up by the Indians; but scarcely 
had this been done when the site of the settlement, with thirty-two miles 
square of the surrounding territory, was purchased by a company of 
planters from Barbadoes. A new county named Clarendon was laid 
out, and Sir John Yeamans elected governor of the colony. The pro¬ 
prietors favored the settlement; immigration was rapid; and within a year 
eight hundred people had settled along the river. 

4. The work of preparing a frame of government for the new province 
was assigned to Sir Ashley Cooper, earl of Shaftesbury. The proprietors, 
not without reason, looked forward to the time when a powerful nation 
should arise within the borders of their vast domain. To draft a suitable 
constitution was deemed a work of the greatest importance. Shaftesbury 
was a brilliant and versatile statesman who had entire confidence in his 
abilities; but in order to give complete assurance qf perfection in the 
proposed statutes, the philosopher John Locke was employed by Sir 
Ashley and his associates to prepare the constitution. The legislation of 
the world furnishes no parallel for the pompous absurdity of Locke’s 
performance. 

5. From March until July of 1669 the philosopher worked away in 

13 


192 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


the preparation of his Grand Model ; then the mighty instrument was 
done, and signed. It contained a hundred and twenty articles, called the 
“ Fundamental Constitutionsand this was but the beginning of the im¬ 
perial scheme which was to stand like a colossus over the huts and pas¬ 
tures along the Cape Fear and Chowan Rivers. The empire of Carolina 
was divided into vast districts of four hundred and eighty thousand acres 
each. Political rights were made dependent upon hereditary wealth. 
The offices were put beyond the reach of the people. There were two 
grand orders of nobility. There were dukes, earls and marquises; 
knights, lords and esquires; baronial courts, heraldic ceremony, and 
every sort of feudal nonsense that the human imagination could conceive 
of. And this was the magnificent constitution which a great statesman 
and a wise philosopher had planned for the government of a few colonists 
who lived on venison and potatoes and paid their debts with tobacco! 

6. It was one thing to make the grand model, and another thing to get 
it across the Atlantic. In this the proprietors never succeeded. All at¬ 
tempts to establish the pompous scheme of government ended in necessary 
failure. The settlers of Albemarle and Clarendon had meanwhile learned 
to govern themselves after the simple manner of pioneers, and they could 
but regard the model and its authors with disdainful contempt. After 
twenty years of fruitless effort, Shaftesbury and his associates folded up 
their grand constitution and concluded that an empire in the pine forests 
of North Carolina was impossible. 

7. The soil of Clarendon county was little better than a desert. For a 
while a trade in staved and furs supplied a profitable industry; but when 
this traffic was exhausted, the colonists began to remove to other settle¬ 
ments. In 1671, Governor Yeamans was transferred to the colony which 
had been founded in the previous year at the mouth of Ashley River, and 
before the year 1690 the whole county of Clarendon was a second time 
surrendered to the native tribes. The settlement north of Albemarle 
Sound was more prosperous, but civil dissension greatly retarded the 
development of the country. 

8. For the proprietors were already busy trying to establish their big in¬ 
stitutions in the feeble province. The humble commerce of the colony was 
burdened with an odious duty. Every pound of the eight hundred hogs¬ 
heads of tobacco annually produced was taxed a penny for the benefit of 
the government. There were at this time less than four thousand people 
in North Carolina, and yet the traffic of these poor settlers with New 
England alone was so weighed down with duties as to yield an annual 
revenue of twelve thousand dollars. Miller, the governor, was a harsh 
and violent man. A gloomy opposition to the proprietary government 


NORTH CAROLINA. 


193 


pervaded the colony; and when, in 1676, large numbers of refugees from 
Virginia—patriots who had fought in Bacon’s rebellion—arrived in the 
Chowan, the spirit of discontent was kindled into open resistance. 

9. The arrival of a merchant-ship from Boston and an attempt to en¬ 
force the revenue laws furnished the occasion and pretext of an insurrec¬ 
tion. The vessel evaded the payment of duty, and was declared a smug¬ 
gler. But the people flew to arms, seized the governor and six members 
of his council, overturned the existing order of things and established a 
new government of their own. John Culpepper, the leader of the insur¬ 
gents, was chosen governor; other officers were elected by the people; and 
in a few weeks the colony was as tranquil as if Locke’s grand model had 
never been heard of. But in the next year, 1679, the imprisoned Mil¬ 
ler and his associates escaped from confinement, and going to London 
told a dolorous story about their wrongs and sufferings. The English 
lords of trade took the matter in hand, and it seemed that North Carolina 
was doomed to punishment. 

10. But the colonists were awake to their interests. Governor Cul¬ 
pepper went boldly to England to defend himself and to justify the rebel¬ 
lion. He was seized, indicted for high treason, tried and acquitted by a 
jury of Englishmen. It marks a peculiar feature of this cause that the 
sagacious earl of Shaftesbury came forward at the trial and spoke in de¬ 
fence of the prisoner. But Lord Clarendon was so much vexed at the 
acquittal of the rebellious governor that he sold his rights as proprietor to 
the infamous Seth Sothel. This man in 1680 was sent out by his associ¬ 
ates as governor of the province. In crossing the ocean he was captured 
by a band of pirates, and for three years the colony was saved from his 
evil presence. At last, in 1683, he arrived in Carolina and began his 
work, which consisted in oppressing the people and defrauding the pro¬ 
prietors. Cranfield of New Hampshire, Cornbury of New York and 
Wingfield of Virginia were all respectable men in comparison with Sothel, 
whose sordid passions have made him notorious as the worst colonial gov¬ 
ernor that ever plundered an American province. After five years of 
avaricious tyranny, the base, gold-gathering, justice-despising despot was 
overthrown in an insurrection. Finding himself a prisoner, and fearing 
the wrath of the defrauded proprietors more than he feared the indigna¬ 
tion of the outraged colonists, he begged to be tried by the assembly of 
the province. The request was granted, and the culprit escaped with a 
sentence of disfranchisement and a twelve months’ exile from North 
Carolina. 

11. Sothel was succeeded in the governorship by Ludwell, who arrived 
in 1689. His administration of six years’ duration was a period of peace 


194 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


and contentment. The wrongs of his predecessor were corrected as far as 
possible by a just and humane chief magistrate. In 1695 came Sir John 
Archdale, another of the proprietors, the rival of Ludwell in prudence 
and integrity. Then followed the tranquil administration of Governor 
Henderson Walker; then, in 1704, the foolish attempt of Robert Daniel 
to establish the Church of England. In the mean time, the colony had 
grown strong in population and resources. The country south of the 
Roanoke began to be dotted with farms and hamlets. Other settlers 
came from Virginia and Maryland. Quakers came from New England 
and the Delaware. A band of French Huguenots came in 1707. A 
hundred families of German refugees, buffeted with war and persecution, 
left the banks of the Rhine to find a home on the banks of the Neuse. 
Peasants from Switzerland came and founded New Berne at the mouth 
of the River Trent. 

12. The Indians of North Carolina had gradually wasted away. Pes¬ 
tilence and strong drink had reduced powerful tribes to a shadow. Some 
nations were already extinct; others, out of thousands of strong-limbed 
warriors, had only a dozen men remaining. The lands of the savages had 
passed to the whites, sometimes by purchase, sometimes by fraud, often 
by forcible occupation. The natives were jealous and revengeful, but 
weak. Of all the mighty tribes that had inhabited the Carolinas in the 
days of Sir Walter Raleigh, only the Corees and the Tuscaroras were 
still formidable. The time had come when these unhappy nations, like 
the rest of their race, were doomed to destruction. The conflict which 
ended, and could only end, in the ruin of the Red men, began in the year 
1711. 

13. In September of this year, Lawson, the surveyor-general of North 
Carolina, ascended the Neuse to explore and map the country. The In¬ 
dians were alarmed at the threatened encroachment upon their territory. 
A band of warriors took Lawson prisoner, led him before their council, 
condemned him and burned him to death. On the night of the 22d, com¬ 
panies of savages rose out of the woods, fell upon the scattered settlements 
between the Roanoke and Pamlico Sound, and murdered a hundred and 
thirty persons. Civil dissension prevented the colonial authorities from 
adopting vigorous measures of defence. The protection of the people 
and the punishment of the barbarians were left to the neighboring prov¬ 
inces. Spottswood, governor of Virginia, made some unsuccessful efforts 
to render assistance, and Colonel Barnwell came from South Carolina with 
a company of militia and a body of friendly Cherokees, Creeks and Cataw- 
bas. The savages were driven into their fort in the northern part of 
Craven county, but could not be dislodged. While affairs were in this 


NORTH CAROLINA. 


19 $ 


condition a treaty of peace was made; but Barnwell’s men, on their way 
homeward, violated the compact, sacked an Indian village and made 
slaves of the inhabitants. The war was at once renewed. 

14. In September of the next year, while the conflict was yet unde¬ 
cided, the yellow fever broke out in the country south of Pamlico Sound. 
So dreadful were the ravages of the pestilence that the peninsula was 
wellnigh swept of its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Colonel James Moore of 
South Carolina had arrived, in command of a regiment of whites and In¬ 
dians, and the Tuscaroras were pursued to their principal fort on Cotentnea 
Creek, in Greene county. This place was besieged until the latter part of 
March, 1713, and was then carried by assault. Eight hundred warriors 
were taken prisoners. The power of the hostile nation was broken, but 
the Tuscarora chieftains were divided in council; some were desirous of 
peace, and some voted to continue the war. This difference of opinion 
led to a division of the tribe. Those who wished for peace were permit¬ 
ted to settle in a single community in the county of Hyde. Their hostile 
brethren, seeing that further resistance would be hopeless, determined to 
leave the country. In the month of June they abandoned their hunting- 
grounds made sacred by the traditions of their fathers, marched across 
Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, reached Northern New York, 
joined their kinsmen, the Oneidas, and became the sixth nation of the 
Iroquois confederacy. 

15. Thus far the two Carolinas had continued under a common gov¬ 
ernment. In 1729 a final separation was effected between the provinces 
north and south of Cape Fear River, and a royal governor appointed over 
each. In spite of Locke’s grand model and the Tuscarora war, in spite 
of the threatened Spanish invasion of 1744, the northern colony had greatly 
prospered. The intellectual development of the people had not been as 
rapid as the growth in numbers and in wealth. Little attention had been 
given to questions of religion. There was no minister in the province 
until 1703. Two years later the first church was built. The first court¬ 
house was erected in 1722, and the printing-press did not begin its work 
until 1754. But the people were brave and patriotic. They loved their 
country, and called it the Land of Summer. In the farmhouse and the 
village, along the banks of the rivers and the borders of the primeval for¬ 
ests, the spirit of liberty pervaded every breast. The love of freedom was 
intense, and hostility to tyranny a universal passion. In the times of 
Sothel it was said of the North Carolinans that they would not pay trib¬ 
ute even to Ccesar. 


196 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER III. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

I N January of 1670 the proprietors of Carolina sent out a colony under 
command of Joseph West and William Sayle. There was at this time 
not a single European settlement between the mouth of Cape Fear River 
and the St. John’s, in Florida. Here was a beautiful coast of nearly four 
hundred miles ready to receive the beginnings of civilization. The new 
emigrants, sailing by way of Barbadoes, steered far to the south, and 
reached the mainland in the country of the Savannah. The vessels first 
entered the harbor of Port Royal. It was now a hundred and eight years 
since John Ribault, on an island in this same harbor, had set up a stone 
engraved with the lilies of France; now the Englishman had come. 

2. The ships were anchored near the site of Beaufort. But the colo¬ 
nists were dissatisfied with the appearance of the country, and did not go 
ashore. Sailing northward along the coast for forty miles, they next en¬ 
tered the mouth of Ashley River, and landed where the first high land 
appeared upon the southern bank. Here were laid the foundations of 
Old Charleston, so named in honor of King Charles II. Of this, the 
oldest town in South Carolina, no trace remains except the line of a ditch 
which was digged around the fort; a cotton-field occupies the site of the 
ancient settlement. 

3. Sayle had been commissioned as governor and West as commercial 
agent of the colony. The settlers had been furnished with a copy of 
Locke’s big constitution, but they had no more use for it than for a dead 
elephant. Instead of the grand model, a little government was organized 
on the principles of common sense. Five councilors were elected by the 
people, and five others appointed by the proprietors. Over this council 
of ten the governor presided. Twenty delegates, composing a house of 
representatives, were chosen by the colonists. Within two years the sys¬ 
tem of popular government was firmly established in the province. Ex¬ 
cept the prevalence of diseases peculiar to the southern climate, no calam¬ 
ity darkened the prospects of the rising State. 

4. In the beginning of 1671 Governor Sayle died, and West, by com¬ 
mon consent, assumed the duties of the vacant office. After the lapse of 


SOUTH CAROLINA. 


197 


a few months, Sir John Yeamans, who had been governor of the northern 
province and was now in Barbadocs, was commissioned by the proprie¬ 
tors as chief magistrate of tlie southern colony. He brought with him to 
Ashley River a large cargo of African slaves. From the beginning the 
colonists had devoted themselves to planting; but the English laborers, 
unused as yet to the climate, could hardly endure the excessive heats of the 
sultry fields. To the Caribbee negroes, already accustomed to the burn¬ 
ing sun of the tropics, the Carolina summer seemed temperate and pleasant. 
Thus the labor of the black man was substituted for the labor of the white 
man, and in less than two years from the founding of the colony the system 
of slavery was firmly established. In this respect the history of South 
Carolina is peculiar. Slavery had been introduced into all the American 
colonies, but everywhere else the introduction had been effected by those 
who were engaged in the slave-trade. In South Carolina alone was the 
system adopted as a political and social experiment and with a view to the 
regular establishment of a laboring class in the State. Governor Yeamans 
was the first to accept this policy, which soon became the general policy 
of the province. The importation of negroes went on so rapidly that in 
a short time they outnumbered the whites as two to one. 

5. Immigration from England did not lag. During the year 1671 a 
system of cheap rents and liberal bounties was adopted by the proprietors, 
and the country was rapidly filled with people. A tract of a hundred and 
fifty acres was granted to every one who would either immigrate or im¬ 
port a negro. Fertile lands were abundant. Wars and pestilence had 
almost annihilated the native tribes; whole counties were almost without an 
occupant. The disasters of one race had prepared the way for the coming 
of another. Only a few years before this time New Netherland had been 
conquered by the English. The Dutch were greatly dissatisfied with the 
government which the duke of York had established over them, and 
began to leave the country. The proprietors of Carolina sent several 
ships to New York, loaded them with the industrious but discontented 
people, and brought them without expense to Charleston. The unoccupied 
lands west of Ashley River were divided among the Dutch, who formed 
there a thriving settlement called Jamestown. The fame of the new 
-country reached Holland, and other emigrants left fatherland to join their 
kinsmen in Carolina. Charles II., who rarely aided a colony, collected a 
company of Protestant refugees from the South of Europe, and sent there¬ 
to Carolina to introduce the silk-worm and to begin the cultivation of the 
grape. 

6. In 1680 the present capital of South Carolina was founded. The 
site of Old Charleston had been hastily and injudiciously selected. The 


198 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


delightful peninsula called Oyster Point, between Ashley and Cooper 
Rivers, was now chosen as the spot on which to build a city. The erec¬ 
tion of thirty dwellings during the first summer gave proof of enterprise; 
the name of Charleston was a second time bestowed, and the village 
immediately became the capital of the colony. The unhealthy climate 
for a while retarded the progress of the new town, but the people were 
full of life and enterprise; storehouses and wharves were built, and mer¬ 
chant-ships soon began to throng the commodious harbor. 

7. Injustice provoked an Indian war. Some vagabond Nestoes, whose 
only offence consisted in strolling through the plantations, were shot. 
The tribe appealed to the government, and the proprietors showed a wil¬ 
lingness to punish the wrongdoers; but the pioneers were determined to 
fight and the savages were naturally revengeful. Scenes of violence con¬ 
tinued along the border, and hostilities began in earnest. In the prosecu¬ 
tion of the war the colonists were actuated by a shameful spirit of avarice. 
The object was not so much to punish or destroy the savages as to take 
them prisoners. A bounty was offered for every captured Indian, and as 
fast as the warriors were taken they were sold as slaves for the West In¬ 
dies. The petty strife continued for a year, and was then concluded with 
a treaty of peace. Commissioners were appointed, to whom all complaints 
and disputes between the natives and the colonists should henceforth be 
submitted. 

8. South Carolina was favored with rapid immigration, and the immi¬ 
grants were worthy to become the founders of a great State. The best 
nations of Europe contributed to people the country between Cape Fear 
and the Savannah. England continued to send her colonies. In 1683 
Joseph Blake, a brother of the great English admiral, devoted his fortune 
and the last years of his life to bringing a large company of dissenters 
from Somersetshire to Charleston. In the same year an Irish colony 
under Ferguson arrived at Ashley River, and met a hearty welcome. A 
company of Scotch Presbyterians, ten families in all, led by the excellent 
Lord Cardross, settled at Port Royal in 1684. The authorities of Charles¬ 
ton claimed jurisdiction there, and the new immigrants reluctantly yielded 
to the claim. Two years afterward a band of Spanish soldiers arrived 
from St. Augustine, and the unhappy Scotch exiles were driven from their 
homes. But intolerant France gave up more of her subjects than did all 
the other nations. 

9. As early as 1598 Henry IV., king of the French, had published a 
celebrated proclamation, called the Edict of Nantes, by the terms of which 
the Huguenots were protected in their rights of religious worship. Now r 
after eighty-seven years of toleration, Louis XIV., blinded with bigotry 


SOUTH CAROLINA. 


199 


and passion and hoping to make Catholicism universal, revoked the kindly 
edict, and exposed the Protestants of his kingdom to the long-suppressed 
rage of their enemies. In order to enforce the decree of revocation the 
French army was quartered in the towns of the Huguenots, the ports were 
closed against emigration, and the borders were watched to prevent escape. 
How foolish are the ways of despotism! In spite of every precaution, 
five hundred thousand of the best people of France, preferring banishment 
to religious thraldom, escaped from their country and fled, self-exiled, into 
foreign lands. The Huguenots were scattered from the Baltic Sea to the 
Cape of Good Hope, and on the Western continent from Maine to Flor¬ 
ida. But of all the American colonies, South Carolina received the great¬ 
est number of French refugees within her borders. They were met by 
the proprietors with a pledge of protection and a promise of citizenship; 
but neither promise nor pledge was immediately fulfilled, for the colony 
had not yet determined what should be its laws of naturalization. Both 
the general assembly and the proprietors claimed the right of fixing the 
conditions. Until that question could be decided the Huguenots were 
kept in suspense, and were sometimes unkindly treated by the jealous 
English settlers. Not until 1697 were all discriminations against the 
French immigrants removed. 

10. In 1686 came James Colleton as colonial governor. He began his 
administration with a foolish attempt to establish the mammoth constitu¬ 
tion of Locke and Shaftesbury. No wonder that the assembly resisted 
his authority, and that the people were embittered against him. The rents 
came due; payment was refused, and the colony was in a state of rebellion. 
In order to divert attention from himself, Colleton published a proclama¬ 
tion setting forth the danger of a pretended invasion by the Indians and 
Spaniards. The militia was called out and the province declared under 
martial law. It was all in vain. The people were only exasperated by 
the arbitrary proceedings of the governor. Tidings came that James II. 
had been driven from the throne of England. The popular assembly was 
convened, and William and Mary were proclaimed as sovereigns. In 
1690 a decree of impeachment was passed against Colleton, and he was 
banished from the province. 

11. The people of North Carolina had just performed a similar service 
for Seth Sothel. Not satisfied with his previous success, he at once re¬ 
paired to Charleston and assumed the government of the southern colony. 
To SothePs other merits were added the qualifications of a first-rate dem¬ 
agogue; he induced the people to acquiesce in his usurpation and to sus¬ 
tain his authority. But his avaricious disposition could not long be held 
in check. The proprietors disclaimed his acts and after a turbulent rule 


200 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


of two years, he and his government were overthrown. One bright page 
redeems the record of his administration. In May of 1691 the first gen¬ 
eral act of enfranchisement was passed in favor of the Huguenots. 

12. Philip Ludwell, who had been collector of customs in Virginia, 
and since 1689 governor of North Carolina, was now sent to establish 
order in the southern province. He spent a year in a well-meant effort 
to administer the government of the proprietors; but the people were 
fixed in their antagonism to the constitution, and nothing could be accom¬ 
plished. Ludwell gave up the hopeless task, withdrew from the prov¬ 
ince, and returned to Virginia. South Carolina had fallen into a condi¬ 
tion bordering on anarchy. 

13. Nearly a quarter of a century had elapsed since Locke drafted the 
grand model. At last the proprietors came to see that the establishment 
of such a monstrous frame of government over an American colony was 
impossible. Pride said that the constitution should stand, for the nobility 
of England had declared it immortal. But self-interest and common 
sense demanded its abrogation, and the demand prevailed. In April of 
1693 the proprietors assembled and voted the boasted model out of exist¬ 
ence. It was enacted at the same meeting that since the people of Caro¬ 
lina preferred a simple charter government, their request be granted. 
The magnificent paper empire of Shaftesbury was swept into oblivion. 

14. Thomas Smith was now appointed governor, but was soon super¬ 
seded by John Archdale, a distinguished and talented Quaker. Arriving 
in 1695, he began an administration so just and wise that dissension ceased 
and the colony entered upon a new career of prosperity. The quit-rents 
on lands were remitted for four years. The people were given the option 
of paying their taxes in money or in produce. The Indians were concili¬ 
ated with kindness and protected against kidnappers. Some native Cath¬ 
olics were ransomed from slavery and sent to their homes in Florida, and 
the Spanish governor reciprocated the deed with a friendly message. 
When the old jealousy against the Huguenots asserted itself in the gen¬ 
eral assembly, the benevolent influence of ArchdaJe procured the passage 
of a law by which all Christians, except the Catholics, were fully enfran¬ 
chised ; the ungenerous exception was made against the governor’s will. 
It was a real misfortune to the colony when, in 1698, the good governor 
was recalled to England. 

15. James Moore was next commissioned as chief magistrate. The 
first important act of his administration was a declaration of hostilities 
against the Spanish settlement of St. Augustine. Queen Anne’s War had 
broken out. The Spaniards were in alliance with the French against the 
English. By the antagonism of England and Spain, South Carolina and 


SOUTH CAROLINA. 


201 


1 lorida were brought into conflict. A et a declaration of war was strong¬ 
ly opposed in the assembly at Charleston, and was only passed by a 
small majority. It was voted to raise and equip a force of twelve bun¬ 
dled men, and to invade Florida by land and water. The summer of 
1702 was spent in preparation, and in September the expeditions departed, 
the land-forces led by Colonel Daniel and the fleet commanded by the 
governor. 

16. The English vessels sailed down the coast, entered the St. John’s 
and blocked up the river. Daniel marched overland, reached St. Augus¬ 
tine and captured the town. But the Spaniards withdrew without serious 
loss into the castle, and bade defiance to the besiegers. Without artillery 
it was evident that the place could not be taken. Colonel Daniel was 
despatched with a sloop to Jamaica to procure cannons for the siege; but 
before his return two Spanish men-of-war appeared at the mouth of the 
St. John’s, and Governor Moore found himself blockaded. His courage 
was not equal to the occasion. Abandoning his ships, he took to the 
shore, and collecting his forces hastily retreated into Carolina. Daniel 
returned and entered the St. John’s, but discovered the danger in time to 
make his escape. The governor’s retreat occasioned great dissatisfaction. 
There were insinuations of cowardice and threats of impeachment, but 
no formal action was taken against him. The only results of the unfor¬ 
tunate expedition were debt and paper money. In order to meet the 
heavy expenses of the war, the assembly was obliged to issue bills of 
credit to the amount of six thousand pounds sterling. 

17. Governor Moore retrieved his reputation by invading the Indian 
nations south-west of the Savannah. In December of 1705 he left the 
province at the head of fifty volunteers and a thousand friendly natives. 
White men had not been seen marching in these woods since the days of 
De Soto. On the 14th of the month the invaders reached the fortified 
town of Ayavalla, in the neighborhood of St. Mark’s. An attack was 
made and the church set on fire. A Franciscan monk came out and 
begged for mercy; but the place was carried by assault, and more than 
two hundred prisoners were taken, only to be enslaved. On the next day 
Moore’s forces met and defeated a large body of Indians and Spaniards. 
Five important towns were carried in succession, and the English flag 
was borne in triumph to the Gulf of Mexico. Communication between 
the Spanish settlements of Florida and the French posts in Louisiana 
was entirely cut off. 

18. Meanwhile, the Church of England had been established by law 
in South Carolina. In the first year of Johnston’s administration the 
High Church party succeeded in getting a majority of one in the colonial 


202 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


assembly, and immediately passed an act disfranchising all the dissenters 
in the province. An appeal was carried to the proprietors, only to be re¬ 
jected with contempt. The dissenting party next laid their cause before 
Parliament, and that body promptly voted that the act of disfranchisement 
was contrary to the laws of England, and that the proprietors had for¬ 
feited their charter. The queen’s ministers were authorized to declare the 
intolerant law null and void. In November of the same year the colo¬ 
nial legislature revoked its own act so far as the disfranchising clause was 
concerned; but Episcopalianism continued to be the established faith of 
the province. 

19. The year 1706 was a stirring epoch in the history of South Caro¬ 
lina. A French and Spanish fleet was sent from Havana to capture 
Charleston and subdue the country. The orders were more easily given 
than executed. The brave people of the capital flew to arms. Governor 
Johnson and Colonel William Rhett inspired the volunteers with courage; 
and when the hostile squadron anchored in the harbor, the city was ready 
for a stubborn defence. Several times a landing was attempted, but the 
invaders were everywhere repulsed. At last a French vessel succeeded in 
getting to shore with eight hundred troops, but they were attacked with 
fury and driven off with a loss of three hundred in killed and prisoners. 
The siege was at once abandoned; unaided by the proprietors, South Car¬ 
olina had made a glorious defence. 

20. In the spring of 1715 war broke out with the Yamassees. As 
usual with their race, the Indians began hostilities with treachery. At 
the very time when Captain Nairne was among them as a friendly ambas¬ 
sador, the wilv savages rose upon the frontier settlements and committed 
an atrocious massacre. The people of Port Royal were alarmed just in 
time to escape in a ship to Charleston. The desperate savages rushed on 
to within a short distance of the capital. It seemed that the city would 
be taken and the whole colony driven to destruction. But the brave 
Charles Craven, governor of the province, rallied the militia of Colleton 
district, and the blood-stained barbarians were driven back. A vigorous 
pursuit began, and the savages were pressed to the banks of the Salke- 
hatchie. Here a decisive battle was fought, and the Indians were com¬ 
pletely routed. The Yamassees collected their shattered tribe and retired 
into Florida, where they were received by the Spaniards as friends and 
confederates. 

21. In 1719 the government of South Carolina was revolutionized. 
At the close of the war with the Yamassees the assembly petitioned the 
proprietors to bear a portion of the expense. But the avaricious noble¬ 
men refused, and would take no measures for the future protection of the 


SOUTH CAROLINA. 


203 


colony. The people were greatly burdened with rents and taxes. The 
lands were monopolized; every act of the assembly which seemed for the 
public good was vetoed by the proprietors. In the new election every 
delegate was chosen by the popular party. The 21st of December was 
training-day in Charleston. On that day James Moore, the new chief 
magistrate elected by the people, was to be inaugurated. Governor John¬ 
son forbade the military display and tried to prevent the inauguration; 
but the militia collected in the public square, drums were beaten, flags 
were flung out on the forts and shipping, and before nightfall the propri¬ 
etary government of Carolina was overthrown. Governor Moore was 
duly inaugurated in the name of King George I. A colonial agent was 
at once sent to England; the cause of the colonists was heard, and the 
forfeited charter of the proprietors abrogated by act of Parliament. 

22. Francis Nicholson was now commissioned as governor. He had 
already held the office of chief magistrate in New York, in Virginia, in 
Maryland and in Nova Scotia. He began a successful administration in 
South Carolina by concluding treaties of peace and commerce with the 
Cherokees and the Creeks. But another and final change in colonial 
affairs was now at hand. In 1729 seven of the eight proprietors of the 
Carolinas sold their entire claims in the provinces to the king. Lord 
Carteret, the eighth proprietor, would surrender pothing but his right of 
jurisdiction, reserving his share in the soil. The sum paid by King 
George for the two colonies was twenty-two thousand five hundred pounds 
sterling. Royal governors were appointed, and the affairs of the province 
were settled on a permanent basis, not to be disturbed for more than forty 
years. 

23. The people who colonized South Carolina were brave and chival¬ 
rous. On the banks of the Santee, the Edisto and the Combahee were 
gathered some of the best elements of the European nations. The Hu¬ 
guenot, the Scotch Presbyterian, the English dissenter, the loyalist and 
High Churchman, the Irish adventurer and the Dutch mechanic, com¬ 
posed the powerful material out of which soon grew the beauty and re¬ 
nown of the Palmetto State. Equally with the rugged Puritans of 
the North, the South Carolinians were lovers of liberty. Without the 
severe morality and formal manners of the Pilgrims, the people who were 
once governed by the peaceful Archdale and once led to war by the gallant 
Craven became the leaders in courtly politeness and high-toned honor be¬ 
tween man and man. In the coming struggle for freedom South Caro¬ 
lina will bear a noble and distinguished part; the fame of the patriotic 
Iihett will be perpetuated by Marion and Sumter. 


204 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER IV. 

GEORGIA. 

EORGIA, the thirteenth American colony, was founded in a spirit 
X of pure benevolence. The laws of England permitted imprisonment 
for debt. Thousands of English laborers, who through misfortune and 
thoughtless contracts had become indebted to the rich, were annually ar¬ 
rested and thrown into jail. There were desolate and starving families. 
The miserable condition of the debtor class at last attracted the attention 
of Parliament. In 1728 a commissioner was appointed, at his own request , 
to look into the state of the poor, to visit the prisons of the kingdom, and 
to report measures of relief. The work was accomplished, the jails were 
opened, and the poor victims of debt returned to their homes. 

2. The noble commissioner was not yet satisfied. For the liberated 
prisoners and their friends were disheartened and disgraced in the country 
of their birth. Was there no land beyond the sea where debt was not a 
crime, and where poverty was no disgrace ? To provide a refuge for the 
down-trodden poor of England and the distressed Protestants of other 
countries, the commissioner now appealed to George II. for the privilege 
of planting a colony in America. The petition was favorably heard, and 
on the 9th of June, 1732, a royal charter was issued by which the terri¬ 
tory between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers, and westward from the 
upper fountains of those rivers to the Pacific, was organized and granted 
to a corporation for twenty-one years, to he held in trust for the poor. In 
honor of the king, the new province received the name of Georgia. 
But what was the name of that liigh-souled, unselfish commissioner of 
Parliament ? 

3. James Oglethorpe, the philanthropist. Born a loyalist, educated at 
Oxford, a High Churchman, a cavalier, a soldier, a member of Parliament, 
benevolent, generous, full of sympathy, far-sighted, brave as John Smith, 
chivalrous as De Soto, Oglethorpe gave in middle life the full energies of 
a vigorous body and a lofty mind to the work of building in the sunny 
South an asylum for the oppressed of his own and other lands. The 
magnanimity of the enterprise was heightened by the fact that he did not 
believe in the equality of men, but only in the right and duty of the strong 
to protect the weak and sympathize with the lowly. To Oglethorpe, as 


GEORGIA. 


205 



principal member of the corporation, the leadership of the first colony to 
be planted on the banks of the Savannah, was naturally entrusted. 

4. By the mid¬ 
dle of November a 
hundred and twen¬ 
ty emigrants were 
ready to sail for 
the New World. 

Oglethorpe, like 
the elder Win- 
throp, determined 
to share the dan¬ 
gers and hardships 
of his colony. In 
January of 1733 
the company was 
welcomed at 
Charleston. Pass¬ 
ing down the coast, 
the vessels were 
anchored for a 
short time at Beau¬ 
fort, while the gov¬ 
ernor with a few 
companions as- jamgs oglethorpe. 

cended the bound¬ 
ary river of Georgia, and selected as the site of his settlement the high 
bluff on which now stands the city of Savannah. Here, on the 1st day of 
February, were laid the foundations of the oldest English town south of 
the Savannah River. Broad streets were laid out; a public square was 
reserved in each quarter; a beautiful village of tents and board houses, 
built among the pine trees, appeared as the capital of a new common¬ 
wealth where men were not imprisoned for debt. 

5. Tomo-chichi, chief of the Yamacraws, came from his cabin, half a 
mile distant, to see his brother Oglethorpe. There was a pleasant con¬ 
ference. “ Here is a present for you,” said the red man to the white man. 
The present was a buffalo robe painted on the inside with the head and 
feathers of an eagle. “ The feathers are soft, and signify love; the buf¬ 
falo skin is the emblem of protection. Therefore love us and protect us,” 
said the old chieftain. Such a plea could not be lost on a man like Ogle¬ 
thorpe. Seeing the advantages of peace, he sent an invitation to the chiefs 


206 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


of the Muskhogees. to meet him in a general council at his capital. The 
conference was held on the 29th of May. Long King, the sachem of 
Oconas, spoke for all the tribes of his nation. The English were wel¬ 
comed to the country. Bundles of buckskins, and such other good gifts 
as savage civilization could offer, were laid down plentifully at the feet 
of the whites. The governor and his poor but generous colony responded 
witli valuable presents and words of faithful friendship. The fame of 
Oglethorpe spread far and wide among the Red men. From the distant 
mountains of Tennessee came the noted chief of the Cherokees to confer 
with the humane and sweet-tempered governor of Georgia. 

6. The councilors in England who managed the affairs of the new 
State encouraged emigration with every liberal offer. Swiss peasants left 
their mountains to find a home on the Savannah. The plaid cloak of the 
Scotch Highlander was seen among the wigwams of the Muskhogees. 
From distant Salzburg, afar on the borders of Austria, came a noble col¬ 
ony of German Protestants, singing their way down the Rhine and across 
the ocean. Oglethorpe met them at Charleston, bade them welcome, led 
them to Savannah and thence through the woods to a point twenty miles 
up the river, told them of English rights and the freedom of conscience, 
and left them to found the village of Ebenezer. 

7. In April of 1734, Governor Oglethorpe made a visit to England. 
His friend Tomo-chichi went with him, and made the acquaintance of 
King George. It was said in London that no colony was ever before 
founded so wisely and well as Georgia. The councilors prohibited the 
importation of rum. Traffic with the Indians—always a dangerous mat¬ 
ter—was either interdicted or regulated by special license. When it came 
to the question of labor, slavery was positively forbidden. It was said 
that the introduction of slaves would be fatal to the interests of the Eng¬ 
lish and German laborers for whom the colony had been founded. While 
the governor was still abroad, the first company of Moravians, number¬ 
ing nine, and led by the evangelist Spangenberg, arrived at Savannah. 

8. In February of 1736, Oglethorpe himself came back with a new 
colony of three hundred. Part of these were Moravians, and nearly all 
were people of deep piety and fervent spirit. First among them—first 
in zeal and first in the influence which he was destined to exert in after 
times—was the celebrated John Wesley, the founder of Methodism., 
Overflowing with religious enthusiasm, he came to Georgia, not as a poli¬ 
tician, not as a minister merely, but as an apostle. To lead the people to 
righteousness, to spread the gospel, to convert the Indians, and to intro¬ 
duce a new type of religion characterized by few forms and much emo¬ 
tion, these were the purposes that thronged his lofty fancy. He was 


GEORGIA. 


207 


doomed to much disappointment. The mixed people of the new province 
could not be moulded to his will; and after a residence of less than two 
years he left the colony with a troubled spirit. His brother, Charles 
Wesley, came also as a secretary to Governor Oglethorpe; but Charles 
was a poet, a timid and tend er-h ear ted man who pined with homesickness 
and gave way under discouragement. But when, in 1738, the famous 
George A\ hitefield came, his robust and daring nature proved a match for 
all the troubles of the wilderness. He preached with fiery eloquence. 
To build an orphan-house at Savannah he went through all the colonies; 
and those who heard his voice could hardly refuse him money. Think¬ 
ing no longer of native land, he found a peaceful grave in New England. 

9. Meanwhile, Oglethorpe was busy with the affairs of his growing 
province. Anticipating war with Spain, he began to fortify. For the 
Spaniards were in possession of Florida, and claimed the country as far 
north as St. Helena Sound. All of Georgia was thus embraced in the 
Spanish claim. But Oglethorpe had a charter for Georgia as far south 
as the Altamaha, and he had secured by treaty with the Indians all the 
territory between that river and the St. Mary’s. In 1736 he ascended 
the Savannah and built a fort at Augusta. On the north bank of the 
Altamaha, twelve miles from its mouth, Fort Darien was built. On 
Cumberland Island, at the mouth of the St. Mary’s, a fortress was erected 
and named Fort William. Proceeding down the coast with a company 
of Highlanders, the daring governor reached the mouth of the St. John’s, 
and on Amelia Island built still another fort, which he named St. George. 
The river St. John’s was claimed from this time forth as the southern 
boundary of Georgia. To make his preparations complete, the governor 
again visited England, and was commissioned as brigadier-general, with a 
command extending over his own province and South Carolina. In Octo¬ 
ber of 1737 he returned to Savannah, bringing with him a regiment of 
six hundred men. Such were the vigorous measures adopted by Ogle¬ 
thorpe in anticipation of a Spanish war. 

10. The war came. It was that conflict known in American history as 
King George’s War. England published her declaration of hostility 
against Spain in the latter part of October, 1739. In the first week of # 
the following January the impetuous Oglethorpe, at the head of the 
Georgia militia, made a dash into Florida, and captured two fortified towns 
of the Spaniards. His plans embraced the conquest of St. Augustine and 
the entire extinction of Spanish authority north of the Gulf of Mexico. 
Repairing to Charleston, he induced the assembly to support his measures. 
Bv the first of May he found himself in command of six hundred regular 
troops, four hundred volunteers and a body of Indian auxiliaries. With 


208 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


this force he proceeded at once against St. Augustine. The place was 
strongly fortified, and the Spanish commandant, Monteano, was a man of 
ability and courage. The siege continued for five weeks, but ended in 
disaster to the English. For a while the town was successfully block¬ 
aded ; but some Spanish galleys, eluding the vigilance of Oglethorpe’s 

squadron, brought a cargo of supplies 
to the garrison. The Spaniards made 
a sally, attacked a company of High¬ 
landers, and dispersed them. Sickness 
prevailed in the English camp. The 
general himself was enfeebled with fever 
and excitement, but he held on like a 
hero. The troops of Carolina, disheart¬ 
ened and despairing of success, left their 
camp and marched homeward. The 
English vessels gathered up their crews, 
abandoned the siege and returned to 
Frederica. Oglethorpe, yielding only 
to necessity, collected his men from the 
trenches and withdrew into Georgia. 

11. The Spaniards now determined 
to carry the war northward and drive 
the English beyond the Savannah. The 
Combahee River should be made the 
* ,1LES ^-g—«» 100 northern boundary of Florida. Prep- 

CUUNTRY OF THE SAVANNAH, 1740 . . 1 

arations began on a vast scale. A pow¬ 
erful fleet of thirty-six vessels, carrying more than three thousand troops, 
was brought from Cuba, and anchored at St. Augustine. In June of 
1742 the squadron passed up the coast to Cumberland Island, and at¬ 
tempted the reduction of Fort William. But Oglethorpe by a daring 
exploit reinforced the garrison, and then fell back to Frederica. The 
Spanish vessels followed and came to anchor in the harbor of St. Simon’s. 
From the southern point of the island to Frederica, Oglethorpe had cut a 
road which at one place lay between a morass and a dense forest. Along 
this path the Spaniards must pass to attack the town. The English gen¬ 
eral had only eight hundred men and a few Indian allies. In order to 
cope with superior numbers, Oglethorpe resorted to stratagem. 

12. A Frenchman had deserted to the Spaniards. To him the English 
general now wrote a letter as if to a spy. A Spanish prisoner in Ogle¬ 
thorpe’s hands was liberated and bribed to deliver the letter to the de¬ 
serter. The Frenchman was advised that two British fleets were coming 


82 81 SO 

















GEORGIA. 


209 


to America, one to aid Oglethorpe and the other to attack St. Augustine. 
Let the Spaniards remain on the island but three days longer, and they 
would be ruined. If the enemy did not make an immediate attack on 
Frederica, his forces would be captured to a man. Oglethorpe knew very 
well that the prisoner, instead of delivering this letter to the deserter, 
would give it to the Spanish commander, and that the Spanish commander 
could not possibly know whether the communication was the truth or a 
fiction. This letter was delivered, and the astonished Frenchman was 
arrested as a spy, but the Spaniards could not tell whether his denial was 
true or false. There was a council of war in the Spanish camp. Ogle¬ 
thorpe’s stratagem was suspected, but could not be proved. Three ships 
had been seen at sea that day; perhaps these were the first vessels of the 
approaching British fleets. The Spaniards were utterly perplexed; but 
it was finally decided to take Oglethorpe’s advice, and make the attack 
on Frederica. 

13. The English general had foreseen that this course would be adopted. 
He had accordingly advanced his small force from the town to the place 
where the road passed between the swamp and the forest. Here an am¬ 
buscade was formed, and the soldiers lay in wait for the approaching Span¬ 
iards. On the 7th of July the enemy’s vanguard reached the narrow pass, 
were fired on from the thicket and driven back in confusion. The main 
body of the Spanish forces pressed on into the dangerous position where 
superior numbers were of no advantage. The Highlanders of Oglethorpe’s 
regiment fired with terrible effect from the oak woods by the roadside. 
The Spaniards stood firm for a while, but were presently driven back with 
a loss of two hundred men. Not without reason the name of Bloody 
Marsh was given to this battle-field. Within less than a week the whole 
Spanish force had re-embarked and sailed for Florida. On the way south¬ 
ward the fleet made a second attack on Fort William. But Captain Stuart, 
with a garrison of only fifty men, made a vigorous and successful defence. 
The English watched the retreating ships beyond the mouth of the St. 
John’s; before the last of July the great invasion was at an end. The 
Spanish authorities of Cuba were greatly chagrined at the failure of the 
expedition. The commander of the squadron was arrested, tried by a 
court-martial and dismissed from the service. 

14. The commonwealth of Georgia was now firmly established, and the 
settlements had peace. In 1743, Oglethorpe bade a final adieu to the col¬ 
ony to whose welfare he had given more than ten years of his life. He 
had never owned a house nor possessed an acre of ground within the lim¬ 
its of his own province. He now departed for England crowned with 
blessings, and leaving behind him an untarnished fame. James Ogle- 


210 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


thorpe lived to be nearly a hundred years old; benevolence, integrity and 
honor were the virtues of his declining years. But the new State which 
he had founded in the West was not always free from evils. 

15. For the regulations which the councilors for Georgia had adopted 
were but poorly suited to the wants of the colony. The settlers had not 
been permitted to hold their lands in fee simple. Agriculture had not 
flourished. Commerce had not sprung up. The laws of property had 
been so arranged that estates could descend only to the oldest sons of fam¬ 
ilies. The colonists were poor, and charged their poverty to the fact that 
slave-labor was forbidden in the province. This became the chief ques¬ 
tion which agitated the people. The proprietary laws grew more and 
more unpopular. The statute excluding slavery was not rigidly enforced, 
and, indeed, could not be enforced, when the people had determined to 
evade it, Whitefield himself pleaded for the abrogation of the law. 
Slaves began to be hired, first for short terms of service, then for longer 
periods, then for a hundred years, which was equivalent to an actual pur¬ 
chase for life. Finally, cargoes of slaves were brought directly from 
Africa, and the primitive free-labor system of Georgia was revolutionized. 
Plantations were laid out below the Savannah, and cultivated, as those of 
South Carolina. 

16. At last the new order of things was acknowledged by the council¬ 
ors of the province. They yielded to necessity. In June of 1752, just 
twenty years from the granting of the charter, the trustees made a formal 
surrender of their patent to the king. A royal government was estab¬ 
lished over the country south of the Savannah, and the people were 
granted the privileges and freedom of Englishmen. The southern bound¬ 
ary of the province remained to be decided by the issue of the French 
and Indian War. For some time the progress of the colony was not 
equal to the expectations of its founder, but long before the Revolution 
Georgia had become a prosperous and growing State. 

17. The history of the American colonies from their first feeble begin¬ 
nings is full of interest and instruction. The people who laid the founda¬ 
tion of civilization in the New World were nearly all refugees, exiles, 
wanderers, pilgrims. They were urged across the ocean by a common 
impulse, and that impulse was the desire to escape from some form of op¬ 
pression in the Old World. Sometimes it was the oppression of the 
Church, sometimes of the State, sometimes of society. In the wake of 
the emigrant ship there was always tyranny. Men loved freedom; to 
find it they braved the perils of the deep, traversed the solitary forests of 
Maine, built huts on the bleak shores of New England, entered the Hud¬ 
son, explored the Jerseys, found shelter on the Chesapeake, met starva- 


RECAPITULA TION. 


211 


tion and death on the banks of the James, were buffeted by storms around 
the capes of Carolina, built towns by the estuaries of the great rivers, 
made roads through the pine-woods, and carried the dwellings of men to 
the very margin of the fever-haunted swamps of the South. It is all one 
story—the story of the human race seeking for liberty. 


RECAPITULATION. 


CHAPTER I. 

Clayborne is commissioned by the London Company.—Explores the Chesapeake.— 
Establishes trading-posts.—Sketch of Sir George Calvert’s life.—He plans a Catholic 
colony.—Sends a company to Newfoundland.—Goes to Virginia.—Refuses the oath.— 
Returns to England.—Obtains a charter—Character and extent of the patent.—Calvert 
dies.—Sir Cecil succeeds him.—The name of Maryland.—A colony is sent out under 
Leonard Calvert.—Reaches the Chesapeake.—Ascends the Potomac.—Returns.—And 
founds St. Mary’s.—Friendly relations are established with the Indians.—Growth of the 
colony.—An assembly is convened.—Clayborne incites an insurrection.—Is beaten.— 
Escapes into Virginia.—Is sent to England.—Representative government is established. 
—An Indian war breaks out.—Clayborne returns to America.—Leads a second insur¬ 
rection.—Overthrows the government.—The rebellion is suppressed.—Tolerant character 
of the laws.—Division of the legislature.—Commissioners are appointed by Parliament. 
—Dissensions of Stone and Clayborne.—The civil war between the Catholics and 
Protestants.—Fendall’s rebellion.—Maryland declares independence.—Fendall is con¬ 
demned.—Charles Calvert is governor.—The Protestants gain control of the State.— 
Maryland becomes a royal province.—The heir of Lord Baltimore is restored to his 
rights.—The Calverts rule the colony until the Revolution.—Reflections. 


CHAPTER II. 

The name of Carolina.—Early explorations.—The country is granted to Clarendon 
and others.—Albemarle and Clarendon colonies are founded.—Cooper and Locke frame 
the grand model.—Its establishment impossible.—Clarendon county is abandoned.— 
The proprietors oppress the colonists.—A rebellion ensues.—Governor Culpepper goes 
to England.—And defends the people.—Clarendon sells his rights.—Sothel is sent out as 
governor.—His tyranny.—He is overthrown.—Ludwell succeeds.—And then Walker.— 
The colony prospers.—Decline of the Indian tribes.—A war breaks out.—Barnwell’s ex¬ 
pedition.—Peace.—And war again.—Moore invades the country of the Tuscaroras.— 
The savages are beaten.—The nation is divided.—The Tuscarora migration.—Division 
of the Carolinas.—Character of the people. 




212 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER III. 

A colony is sent out under West and Sayle.—Reaches Beaufort.—But settles on Ashley 
River.—Locke’s constitution is rejected.—And a simple government adopted.—West be¬ 
comes governor.—And then Yeamans.—Slavery is introduced.—Rapid immigration.— 
Charleston is founded.—An Indian war arises.—Immigrants arrive from England, Scot¬ 
land and Ireland.—The Edict of Nantes is revoked.—The Huguenots flock to South 
Carolina.—Colleton becomes governor.—Declares martial law.—Is overthrown.—Sothel 
takes the office.—Is banished.—Ludwell next.—Who retires to Virginia.—The propri¬ 
etors abrogate the grand model.—The Quaker Archdale.— His wise administration.— 
Moore succeeds.—The war with Florida.—Moore and Daniel attempt to take St. Augus¬ 
tine.—And fail.—Moore makes a successful campaign against the Indians.—The Church 
of England is established.—-The dissenters are disfranchised.—But the act is revoked by 
Parliament.—The Spaniards besiege Charleston.—And are repelled.—War with the 
Yamassees.—The savages are conquered.—Popular revolution in South Carolina.—Nich¬ 
olson is governor.—The proprietors sell Carolina to the king.—A royal government is 
established.—Character of the people. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Georgia founded in benevolence.—Oglethorpe the founder.—Sketch of his life.—He 
leads forth a colony.—And founds Savannah.—The friendly natives.—A treaty is made 
with the Muskhogees.—Immigrants arrive from various parts of Europe.—Oglethorpe 
goes to England.—Returns.—The Moravians.—The Wesleys.—And Whitefield.—Con¬ 
flicting claims of Georgia and Florida.—Oglethorpe builds forts.—Is commissioned as 
general.—War breaks out.—Th$ governor besieges St. Augustine.—And fails.—The 
Spaniards invade Georgia.—Oglethorpe’s stratagem.—The battle of Bloody Marsh.— 
The Spaniards are defeated.—And retreat to Florida.—The governor returns to Eng¬ 
land.—Slavery is introduced.—The prohibitory law is repealed.—Growth of the colony. 

■—Reflections. 


COLONIAL HISTORY. —Continued, 

A. I>. 1754—1703. 

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 


CHAPTER I. 


CAUSES. 

fTIHE time came when the American colonies began to act together, 
L From the beginning they had been kept apart by prejudice, suspi¬ 
cion and mutual jealousy. But the fathers were now dead, old antago¬ 
nisms had passed away, a new generation had arisen with kindlier feel¬ 
ings and more charitable sentiments. But it was not so much the growth 
of a more liberal public opinion as it was the sense of a common danger 
that at last led the colonists to make a united effort. The final struggle 
between France and England for colonial supremacy in America was 
at hand. Necessity compelled the English colonies to join in a com¬ 
mon cause against a common foe. This is the conflict known as the 
French and Indian War; with this great event the separate histories 
of the colonies are lost in the more general history of the nation. The 
contest began in 1754, but the causes of the war had existed for many 
years. 

2. The first and greatest of these causes was the conflicting territorial 
claims of the two nations. England had colonized the sea-coast; France 
had colonized the interior of the continent. From Maine to Florida the 
Atlantic shore was spread with English colonies; but there were no inland 
settlements. The great towns were on the ocean’s edge. But the claims 
of England reached far beyond her colonies. Based on the discoveries 
of the Cabots, and not limited by actual occupation, those claims extended 
westward to the Pacific. In making grants of territory the English 
kings had always proceeded upon the theory that the voyage of Sebastian 
Cabot had given to England a lawful right to the country from one ocean 
to the other. Far different, however, were the claims of France; the 
French had first colonized the valley of the St. Lawrence. Montreal, one 

213 



214 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


of the earliest settlements, is more than five hundred miles from the sea. 
If the French colonies had been limited to the St. Lawrence and its trib¬ 
utaries, there would have been little danger of a conflict about territorial 
dominion. But in the latter half of the seventeenth century the French 
began to push their way westward and southward; first, along the shores 
of the great lakes, then to the head-waters of the Wabash, the Illinois, 
die Wisconsin and the St. Croix, then down these streams to the Missis¬ 
sippi, and then to the Gulf of Mexico. The purpose of the French, as 
manifested in these movements, was no less than to divide the American 
continent and to take the larger portion, to possess the land for France 
and for Catholicism. For it was the work of the Jesuit missionaries. 
So important and marvelous are those early movements of the French in 
the valley of the Mississippi that a brief account of the leading explora¬ 
tions may here be given. 

3. The zealous Jesuits, purposing to extend the Catholic faith to all 
lands and nations, set out fearlessly from the older settlements of the St. 
Lawrence to explore the unknown West, and to convert the barbarous 
races. In 1641, Charles Raymbault, the first of the French missionary 
explorers, passed through the northern straits of Lake Huron and entered 
Lake Superior. In the thirty years that followed, the Jesuits continued 
their explorations with prodigious activity. Missions were established at 
various points north of the lakes, and in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illi¬ 
nois. In 1673, Joliet and Marquette passed from the head-waters of 
Fox River over the watershed to the upper tributaries of the Wisconsin, 
and thence down that river in a seven days’ voyage to the Mississippi. 
For a full month the canoe of the daring adventurers carried them on 
toward the sea. They passed the mouth of Arkansas River, and reached 
the limit of their voyage at the thirty-third parallel of latitude. Turn¬ 
ing their boat up stream, they entered the mouth of the Illinois and 
returned by the site of Chicago into Lake Michigan, and thence to De¬ 
troit. But it was not yet known whether the great river discharged its 
flood of waters into the southern gulf or into the Pacific Ocean. 

4. It remained for Robert de la Salle, most illustrious of the French 
explorers, to solve the problem. This courageous and daring man was 
living at the outlet of Lake Ontario when the news of Marquette’s 
voyage reached Canada. Fired with the passion of discovery, La Salle 
built and launched the first ship above Niagara Falls. He sailed west¬ 
ward through Lake Erie and Lake Huron, anchored in Green Bay, 
crossed Lake Michigan to the mouth of the St. Joseph, ascended that 
stream with a few companions, traversed the country to the upper Kanka¬ 
kee, and dropped down with the current into the Illinois. Here disas- 


CAUSES. 


215 


ters overtook the expedition, and La Salle was obliged to return on foot 
to Fort Frontenac, a distance of nearly a thousand miles. During his 
absence, Father Hennepin, a member of the company, traversed Illinois, 
and explored the Mississippi as high as the Falls of St. Anthony. 

5. In 1681, La Salle returned to his station on the Illinois, bringing 
men and supplies. A boat was built and launched, and early in the 
following year the heroic adventurer, with a few companions, descended 
the river to its junction with the Mississippi, and was borne by the 
Father of Waters to the Gulf of Mexico. It was one of the greatest 
exploits of modern times. The return voyage was successfully accom¬ 
plished. La Salle reached Quebec, and immediately set sail for France. 
The kingdom was greatly excited, and vast plans were made for coloniz¬ 
ing the valley of the Mississippi. In July of 1684 four ships, bearing 
two hundred and eighty emigrants, left France. Beaujeu commanded 
the fleet, and La Salle was leader of the colony. The plan was to enter 
the gulf, ascend the river, and plant settlements on its banks and tributa¬ 
ries. But Beaujeu was a bad and headstrong captain, and against La 
Salle’s entreaties the squadron was carried out of its course, beyond the 
mouths of the Mississippi, and into the Bay of Matagorda. Here a 
landing was effected, but the store-ship, with all its precious freightage, 
was dashed to pieces in a storm. Nevertheless, a colony was established, 
and Texas became a part of Louisiana. 

6. La Salle made many unsuccessful efforts to rediscover the Missis¬ 
sippi. One misfortune after another followed fast, but the leader’s reso¬ 
lute spirit remained tranquil through all calamities. At last, with sixteen 
companions, he set out to cross the continent to Canada. The march 
began in January of 1687, and continued for sixty days. The wanderers 
were already in the basin of the Colorado. Here, on the 20th of March, 
while La Salle was at some distance from the camp, two conspirators of 
the company, hiding in the prairie grass, took a deadly aim at the 
famous explorer, and shot him dead in his tracks. Only seven of the 
adventurers succeeded in reaching a French settlement on the Mis¬ 
sissippi. 

7. France was not slow to occupy the vast country revealed to her 
by the activity of the Jesuits. As early as 1688 military posts had 
been established at Frontenac, at Niagara, at the Straits of Mackinaw, 
and on the Illinois River. Before the middle of the eighteenth century, 
permanent settlements had been made by the French on the Maumee, at 
Detroit, at the mouth of the river St. Joseph, at Green Bay, at Vincennes 
on the Lower Wabash, on the Mississippi at the mouth of the Ivaskas- 
kia, at Fort Rosalie, the present site of Natchez, and on the Gulf of 


216 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Mexico at the head of the Bay of Biloxi. At this time the only outposts 
of the English colonies were a small fort at Oswego, on Lake Ontario, 
and a few scattered cabins in West Virginia. It only remained for 
France to occupy the valley of Ohio, in order to confine the provinces of 
Great Britain to the country east of the Alleghanies. To do this became 
the sole ambition of the French, and to prevent it the stubborn purpose 
of the English. 

8. A second cause of war existed in the long-standing national animos¬ 
ity of France and England. The two nations could hardly remain at 
peace. The French and the English were of different races, languages 
and laws. For more than two centuries France had been the leader of 
the Catholic, and England of the Protestant, powers of Europe. Religious 
prejudice intensified the natural jealousy of the two nations. Rivalry 
prevailed on land and sea. When, at the close of the seventeenth century, 
it was seen that the people of the English colonies outnumbered those of 
Canada by nearly twenty to one, France was filled with envy. When, 
by the enterprise of the Jesuit missionaries, the French began to dot the 
basin of the Mississippi with fortresses, and to monopolize the fur-trade 
of the Indians, England could not conceal her wrath. It was only a 
question of time when this unreasonable jealousy would bring on a colo¬ 
nial war. 

9. The third and immediate cause of hostilities was a conflict between 
the frontiersmen of the two nations in attempting to colonize the Ohio 
valley. The year 1749 witnessed the beginning of difficulties. For 
some time the strolling traders of Virginia and Pennsylvania had fre¬ 
quented the Indian towns on the upper tributaries of the Ohio. Now the 
traders of Canada began to visit the same villages, and to compete with 
the English in the purchase of furs. Virginia, under her ancient char¬ 
ters, claimed the whole country lying between her western borders and 
the southern shores of Lake Erie. The French fur-gatherers in this dis¬ 
trict were regarded as intruders not to be tolerated. In order to prevent 
further encroachment, a number of prominent Virginians joined them¬ 
selves together in a body called the Ohio Company, with a view to 
the immediate occupation of the disputed territory. Robert Dinwiddie, 
governor of the State, Lawrence and Augustus Washington, and Thomas 
Lee, president of the Virginia council, were the leading members of the 
corporation. In March of 1749 the company received from George II. 
an extensive land-grant covering a tract of five hundred thousand acres, 
to be located between the Kanawha and the Monongahela, or on the 
northern bank of the Ohio. The conditions of the grant were that the 
lands should be held free of rent for ten years, that within seven years a 


CAUSES. 


217 


colony of one hundred families should be established in the district, and 
that the territory should be immediately selected. 

10. But the French were equally active. Before the Ohio Company 
could send out a colony, the governor of Canada despatched Bienville 
with three hundred men to explore and occupy the valley of the Ohio. 
The expedition was successful. Plates of lead bearing French inscrip¬ 
tions were buried here and there on both banks of the river, the region was 
explored as far west as the towns of the Miamis. the English traders were 
expelled from the country, and a letter was written to Governor Hamil¬ 
ton of Pennsylvania admonishing him to encroach no farther on the 
territory of the king of France. This work occupied the summer and 
fall of 1749. In the mean time, the Ohio Company had equipped an 
exploring party, and placed it under command of Christopher Gist. In 
November of 1750 he and his company reached the Ohio opposite the 
mouth of Beaver Creek. Here the expedition crossed to the northern 
side, tarried at Logstown, passed down the river through the several 
Indian confederacies to the Great Miami, and then’ce to within fifteen 
miles of the falls at Louisville. Returning on foot through Kentucky, 
the explorers reached Virginia in the spring of 1751. 

11. This expedition was followed by still more vigorous movements on 
the part of the French. Descending from their headquarters at Presque 
Isle, now Erie, on the southern shore of the lake, they built a fortress 
called Le Boeuf, on French Creek, a tributary of the Alleghany. Pro¬ 
ceeding down the stream to its junction with the river, they erected a 
second fort, named Venango. From this point they advanced against a 
British post on the Miami, broke up the settlement, made prisoners of 
the garrison and carried them to Canada. The king of the Miami con¬ 
federacy, who had assisted the English in defending their outpost, was 
inhumanly murdered by the Indian allies of the French. About the 
same time the country south of the Ohio, between the Great Kanawha 
and the Monongahela, was explored by Gist and a party of armed sur¬ 
veyors, acting under orders of the company. In the summer of 1753 the 
English opened a road from Will’s Creek through the mountains into the 
Ohio valley, and a colony of eleven families was planted on the Youghi- 
ogheny, just west of Laurel Hill. It was impossible that a conflict be¬ 
tween the advancing settlements of the two nations could be much longer 
averted. 

12. The Indian nations were greatly alarmed at the threatening pros¬ 
pect. Solemn councils were held among all the tribes, and the affairs of 
the race were gravely discussed by the copper-colored orators. From the 
first the Red men rather favored the English cause, but their allegiance 


218 


HISTORY OF THE UJSITED STATES. 


was wavering and uncertain. After the murder of the Miami chieftain 
their hostility to the French became more decided. When, in the spring 
of 1753, the news was borne to the council-fires on the Ohio that Du 
Quesne, the governor of Canada, had despatched a company of twelve 
hundred men to descend the Alleghany and colonize the country, the 
jealousy of the natives was kindled into open resistance. The tribes 
most concerned were the Delawares, the Shawnees, the Miamis and the 
Mingoes. The chieftain of this confederacy, named Tanacharisson, was 
called the Half-King from the fact that his subjects, except the Miamis, 
owed a kind of indefinite allegiance to the Iroquois or Six Nations. By 
the authority of a great council held at Logstown the Half-King was now 
sent to Erie to remonstrate with the French commandant against a further 
invasion of the Indian country. “ The land is mine, and I will have it,” 
replied the Frenchman, with derision and contempt. The insulted 
sachem returned to his nation to lift the hatchet against the enemies of 
his people. It was at this time that the chiefs of many tribes met Benja¬ 
min Franklin at the town of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and formed a treaty 
of alliance with the English. 

13. Virginia was now thoroughly aroused. But before proceeding to 
actual hostilities, Governor Dinwiddie determined to try the effect of a 
final remonstrance with the French. A paper was accordingly drawn up 
setting forth the nature and extent of the English claim to the valley of 
the Ohio, and solemnly warning the authorities of France against further 
intrusion into that region. It was necessary that this paper should be 
carried to General St. Pierre, now stationed at Erie as commander of the 
French forces in the West. Who should be chosen to bear the important 
parchment to its far-off destination ? It was the most serious mission 
ever yet undertaken in America. A young surveyor, named George 
Washington, was called to perform the perilous duty. Him the 
governor summoned from his home on the Potomac and commissioned as 
ambassador, and to him was committed the message which was to be 
borne from Williamsburg, on York River, through the untrodden wilder¬ 
ness to Presque Isle, on the shore of Lake Erie. 

14. On the last day of October, 1753, Washington set out on his, long 
journey. He was attended by four comrades besides an interpreter and 
Christopher Gist, the guide. The party arrived without accident at the 
mouth of Wilks Creek, the last important tributary of the Potomac on 
the north. From this place Washington proceeded through the moun¬ 
tains to the head-waters of the Youghiogheny, and thence down that 
stream to the site of Pittsburg. The immense importance of this place, 
lying at the confluence of the two great tributaries of the Ohio, and com- 


CAUSES. 


219 



FIRST SCENE OF THE FRENCH AND 
INDIAN WAR, 1750 . 


mantling them both, was at once perceived by the young ambassador, who 
noted the spot as the site ot a fortress. Washington was now conducted 
across the Alleghany by the chief of 
the Delawares, and thence twenty 
miles down the river to Logs town. 

Here a council was held with the 
Indians, who renewed their pledges 
of friendship and fidelity to the Eng¬ 
lish. The emissaries of the French 
were already in the country trying 
in every conceivable way to entice 
the Red men into an alliance; but 
every proposal was rejected. In the 
beginning of December, Washington 
and his party moved northward to 
the French post at Venango. The 
officers of the fort took no pains to 
conceal their purpose; the project of 
uniting Canada and Louisiana by 
way of the Ohio valley was openly avowed. 

15. From Venango, Washington set out through the forest to Fort le 
Boeuf on French Creek, fifty miles above its junction with the Alleghany. 
This was the last stage in the journey.. It was still fourteen miles to 
Presque Isle; but St. Pierre, the French commander, had come down 
from that place to superintend the fortifications at Le Boeuf. Here the 
conference was held. Washington was received with great courtesy, 
but the general of the French refused to enter into any discussion on the 
rights of nations. He was acting, he said, under military instructions 
given by the governor of New France. He had been commanded by his 
superior officer to eject every Englishman from the valley of the Ohio, 
and he meant to carry out his orders to the letter. A firm but courteous 
reply was returned to Governor Dinwiddie’s message. France claimed 
the country of the Ohio in virtue of discovery, exploration and occupa¬ 
tion, and her claim should be made good by force of arms. 

16. Washington was kindly dismissed, but not until he had noted with 
keen anxiety the immense preparations which were making at Le Boeuf. 
There lay a fleet of fifty birch-bark canoes and a hundred and seventy 
boats of pine ready to descend the river to the site of Pittsburg. For the 
French, as well as the English, had noted the importance of that spot, 
and had determined to fortify it as soon as the ice should break in the 
rivers. It was now the dead of winter. Washington returned to Ve- 





220 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


nango, and then, with Gist as his sole companion, left the river and 
struck into the woods. It was one of the most solitary marches ever 
made by man. There in the desolate wilderness was the future President 
of the United States. Clad in the robe of an Indian, with gun in hand 
and knapsack strapped to his shoulders; struggling through interminable 
snows; sleeping with frozen clothes on a bed of pine-brush; breaking 
through the treacherous ice of rapid streams; guided by day by a pocket 
compass, and at night by the North Star, seen at intervals through the 
leafless trees; fired at by a prowling savage from his covert not fifteen 
steps away; thrown from a raft into the rushing Alleghany ; escaping to 
an island and lodging there until the river was frozen over; plunging 
again into the forest; reaching Gist’s settlement and then the Potomac,— 
the strong-limbed young ambassador came back without wound or scar to 
the capital of Virginia. For his flesh was not made to be torn with 
bullets or to be eaten by the wolves. The defiant despatch of St. Pierre 
was laid before Governor Dinwiddie, and the first public service of Wash¬ 
ington was accomplished. 

17. In the mean time, the Ohio Company had not been idle. About 
mid-winter a party of thirty-three men had been organized and placed 
under command of Trent, with orders to proceed at once to the source of 
the Ohio and erect a fort. The company must have been marching to its 
destination when Washington returned to Virginia. It was not far from 
the middle of March, 1754, when Trent’s party reached the confluence 
of the Alleghany and the Monongahela, and b'lilt the first rude stockade 
on the site of Pittsburg.* After all the threats and boasting of the 
French, the English had beaten them and seized the key to the Ohio 
valley. 

18. But it was a short-lived triumph. As soon as the approaching 
spring broke the ice-gorges in the Alleghany, the French fleet of boats, 
already prepared at Venango, came sweeping down the river. It was in 
vain for Trent with his handful of men to offer resistance. Washington 
had now been commissioned as lieutenant-colonel, and was stationed at 
Alexandria to enlist recruits for the Ohio. A regiment of a hundred and 
fifty men had been enrolled; but it was impossible to bring succor to 
Trent in time to save the post. On the 17th of April the little band of 
Englishmen at the head of the Ohio surrendered to the enemy and with¬ 
drew from the country. The French immediately occupied the place, 
felled the forest-trees, built barracks and laid the foundations of Fort 
du Quesne. To recapture this place by force of arms Colonel Wash¬ 
ington set out from Will’s Creek in the early part of May, 1754. Nego- 

* The accounts of this important event are very obscure and unsatisfactory. 


CAMPAIGNS OF WASHINGTON AND BRADDOCK. 221 

tiations had failed; remonstrance had been tried in vain • the possession 
of the disputed territory was now to be determined by the harsher methods 
of war. 


CHAPTER II 


CAMPAIGNS OF WASHINGTON AND BRADDOCK. 



ASHINGTON now found himself in command of a little army of 


' * Virginians. His commission was brief and easily understood : To 
construct a fort at the source of the Ohio; to destroy whoever opposed 
him in the work ; to capture, kill or repel all who interrupted the progress 
of the English settlements in that country. In the month of April the 
young commander left Will’s Creek, but the march westward was slow 
and toilsome. The men were obliged to drag their cannons. The roads 
were miserable; rain fell in torrents on the tentless soldiers; rivers were 
bridgeless; provisions insufficient. All the while the faithful Half-King 
was urging Washington by repeated despatches to hasten to the rescue of 
the Red men. 

2. On the 26th of May the English regiment reached the Great 
Meadows. Here Washington was informed that a company of French 
was on the march to attack him. The enemy had been seen on the 
Youffliioolieny only a few miles distant. A stockade was immediately 
erected, to which the commander gave the appropriate name of Fort 
Necessity. Ascertaining from the scouts of the Half-King that the French 
company in the neighborhood was only a scouting-party, Washington, 
after conference with the Mingo chiefs, determined to strike the first blow. 
Two Indians followed the trail of the French, and discovered their hiding- 
place in a rocky ravine. The English advanced cautiously, intending to 
surprise and capture the whole force; but the French were on the alert, 
saw the approaching soldiers and flew to arms. Washington with 
musket in hand was at the head of his company. “ Fire!” was the clear 
command that rang through the forest, and the first volley of a great war 
went flying on its mission of death. The engagement was brief and 
decisive. Jumonville, the leader of the French, and ten of his party were 
killed, and twenty-one were made prisoners. 

3. A month of precious time was now lost in delays. While Washing¬ 
ton at Fort Necessity waited in vain for reinforcements, the French at 



222 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Fort du Quesne were collecting in great numbers. One small company 
of volunteers from South Carolina arrived at the English camp; but the 
captain was an arrogant blockhead who, having a commission from the 
king, undertook to supersede Washington. The latter, with the Vir¬ 
ginians, spent the time of waiting in cutting a road for twenty miles 
across the rough country in the direction of Fort du Quesne. The In¬ 
dians were greatly discouraged at the dilatory conduct of the colonies, 
and the strong war-parties which had been expected to join Washington 
from the Muskingum and the Miami did not arrive. His whole effect¬ 
ive force scarcely numbered four hundred. Learning that the French 
general De Villiers was approaching with a large body of troops, besides 
Indian auxiliaries, Washington deemed it prudent to fall back to Fort 
Necessity. The Carolina captain, who had remained within the fortifica¬ 
tions, had done nothing to strengthen the works, although there was the 
greatest need. 

4. The little fort stood in an open space, midway between two emi¬ 
nences covered with trees. Scarcely were Washington’s forces safe within 
the enclosure, when on the 3d of July the regiment of De Villiers, num¬ 
bering six hundred, besides the savage allies, came in sight, and surrounded 
the fort. The French stationed themselves on the eminence, about sixty 
yards distant from the stockade. From this position they could fire down 
upon the English with fatal effect. Many of the Indians climbed into 
the tree-tops, where they were concealed by the thick foliage. For nine 
hours, during a rain-storm, the assailants poured an incessant shower of 
balls upon the heroic band in the fort. Thirty of Washington’s men 
were killed, but his tranquil presence encouraged the rest, and the fire of 
the French was returned with unabated vigor. At length De Villiers, fear¬ 
ing that his ammunition would be exhausted, proposed a parley. Wash¬ 
ington, seeing that it would be impossible to hold out much longer, ac¬ 
cepted the honorable terms of capitulation which were offered by the 
French general. On the 4th of July the English garrison, retaining all 
its accoutrements, marched out of the little fort, so bravely defended, and 
withdrew from the country. The whole valley of the Ohio remained in 
undisturbed possession of the French. 

5. Meanwhile, a congress of the American colonies had assembled at 
Albany. The objects had in view were twofold: first, to renew the 
treaty with the Iroquois confederacy; and secondly, to stir up the colonial 
authorities to some sort of concerted action against the French. The 
Iroquois had wavered from the beginning of the war; the recent reverses 
of the English had not strengthened the loyalty of the Red men. As to 
the French aggressions, something must be done speedily, or the flag of 


CAMPAIGNS OF WASHINGTON AND BRADDOCK. 


223 


England could never be borne into the vast country west of the Alle- 
gnanies. The congress was not wanting in abilities of the highest order. 
No such venerable and dignified body of men had ever before assembled 
on the American continent. There were Hutchinson of Massachusetts, 
Hopkins of Rhode Island, Franklin of Pennsylvania, and others scarcely 
less distinguished. After a few days’ consultation, the Iroquois, but half 
satisfied, renewed their treaty and departed. The chieftains were anxious 
and uneasy lest, through inactivity and want of union on the part of the 
colonies, the Six Nations should be left to contend alone with the power 
of France. 

6. The convention next took up the important question of uniting the 
colonies in a common government. On the 10th day of July, Benjamin 
Franklin laid before the commissioners the draft of a federal constitu¬ 
tion. His vast and comprehensive mind had realized the true condition 
and wants of the country; the critical situation of the colonies demanded 
a central government. How else could revenues be raised, an army be 
organized and the common welfare be provided for? According to the 
proposed plan of union, Philadelphia, a central city, was to be the cap¬ 
ital. It was urged in behalf of this clause that the delegates of New 
Hampshire and Georgia, the colonies most remote, could reach the seat 
of government in fifteen or twenty days ! Slow-going old patriots! The 
chief executive of the new confederation was to be a governor-general 
appointed and supported by the king. The legislative authority was 
vested in a congress composed of delegates to be chosen triennially by the 
general assemblies of the respective provinces. Each colony should be 
represented in proportion to its contributions to the general government, 
but no colony should have less than two or more than seven represent¬ 
atives in congress. With the governor was lodged the power of appoint¬ 
ing all military officers and of vetoing objectionable laws. The appoint¬ 
ment of civil officers, the raising of troops, the levying of taxes, the super¬ 
intendence of Indian affairs, the regulation of commerce, and all the 
general duties of government, belonged to congress. This body was to 
convene once a year, to choose its own officers, and to remain in session 
not longer than six weeks. 

7. Such was the constitution drafted by Franklin and adopted, not 
without serious opposition, by the commissioners at Albany. It remained 
for the colonies to ratify or reject the new scheme of government. Copies 
of the proposed constitution were at once transmitted to the several colon ¬ 
ial capitals, and were everywhere received with disfavor; in Connecticut, 
rejected ; in Massachusetts, opposed; in New York, adopted with indiffer¬ 
ence. The chief objection urged against the instrument was the power of 


224 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


veto given to the governor-general. Nor did the new constitution fare 
better in the mother country. The English board of trade rejected it 
with disdain, saying that the froward Americans were trying to make a 
government of their own. Meanwhile, the French were strengthening 
their works at Crown Point and Fort Niagara, and rejoicing over their 
success in Western Pennsylvania. 

8. But the honor of England, no less than the welfare of her colonies, 
was at stake, and Parliament came to the rescue. It was determined to 
send a British army to America, to accept the service of such provincial 
troops as the colonies might furnish, and to protect the frontier against 
the aggressions of France. As yet there had been no declaration of war. 
The ministers of the two nations kept assuring each other of peaceable 
intentions; but Louis XV. took care to send three thousand soldiers to 
Canada, and the British government ordered General Edward Braddock 
to proceed to America with two regiments of regulars. Early in 1755 
the English armament arrived in the Chesapeake. On the 14th of April 
Braddock met the governors of all the colonies in a convention at Alex¬ 
andria. The condition of colonial affairs was fully discussed. It was 
resolved, since peace existed, not to invade Canada, but to repel the 
French on the western and northern frontier. The plans of four cam¬ 
paigns were accordingly submitted and ratified. Lawrence, the governor 
of Nova Scotia, was to complete the conquest of that province according to 
the English notion of boundaries. Johnson of New York was to enroll 
a force of volunteers and Mohawks in British pay, and to capture the 
French post at Crown Point. Shirley of Massachusetts was to equip a 
regiment and drive the enemy from their fortress at Niagara, Last and 
most important of all, Braddock himself as commander-in-chief was to 
lead the main body of regulars against Fort du Quesne, retake that post 
and expel the French from the Ohio valley. 

9. In the latter part of April the British general set out on his march 
from Alexandria to Wilks Creek. The name of the military post at the 
mouth of this stream was now changed to Fort Cumberland. Braddock’s 
army numbered fully two thousand men. They were nearly all veterans 
Avho had seen service in the wars of Europe. A few provincial troops 
had joined the expedition; two companies of volunteers, led by Colonel 
Horatio Gates of New York, were among the number. Washington met 
the army at Fort Cumberland, and became an aid-de-camp of Braddock. 
The colonies would have assisted with large levies of recruits, had it not 
been for the nature of the general’s authority. It was prescribed in his 
commission that the provincial captains and colonels should have no rank 
when serving in connection with the British army. So odious was this 


CAMPAIGNS OF WASHINGTON AND BRADDOCK. 


225 


regulation that Washington had set the example of withdrawing from the 
service; patriotic motives and the wish of Virginia now induced him to 
return and to accept a post of responsibility. 

10. On the last day of May the march began from Fort Cumberland. 
A select force of five hundred men was thrown forward to open the roads 
in the direction of Fort du Quesne. Sir Peter Halket led the advance, 
and Braddock followed with the main body. The army, marching in a 
slender column, was extended for four miles along the narrow and broken 
road. It was in vain that Washington pointed out the danger of am¬ 
buscades and suggested the employment of scouting-parties. Braddock 
was self-willed, arrogant, proud; thoroughly skilled in the tactics of 
European warfare, he could not bear to be advised by an inferior. The 
sagacious Franklin had admonished him to move with caution; but he 
only replied that it was impossible for savages to make any impression on 
His Majesty’s regulars. Now, when Washington ventured to repeat the 
advice, Braddock flew into a passion, strode up and down in his tent, and 
said that it was high times when Colonel Buckskin could teach a British 
general how to fight. 

11. On the 19th of June, Braddock put himself at the head of twelve 
hundred chosen troops and pressed forward more rapidly. Colonel Dun¬ 
bar was left behind with the remainder of the army. On the 8th of July 
the van reached the junction of the Youghiogheny and the Monongahela. 
It was only twelve miles farther to Fort du Quesne, and the French gave 
up the place as lost. On the next morning the English army advanced 
along the Monongahela, and at noon crossed to the northern bank just 
beyond the confluence of Turtle Creek. Still there was no sign of an 
enemy. Colonel Thomas Gage was leading forward a detachment of three 
hundred and fifty men. The road was but twelve feet wide; the country 
uneven and woody. There was a dense undergrowth on either hand; 
rocks and ravines; a hill on the right and a dry hollow on the left. A 
few guides were in the advance, and some feeble flanking-parties; in the 
rear came the general with the main division of the army, the artillery 
and the baggage. All at once a quick and heavy fire was heard in the 
front. 

12. France was not going to give up Fort du Quesne without a strug¬ 
gle. For two months the place had been receiving reinforcements; still 
the garrison was by no means able to cope with Braddock’s army. Even 
the Indians realized the disparity of the contest. It was with great diffi¬ 
culty that, on the night before the battle, the commandant of the fort 
induced the savages to join in the enterprise of ambuscading the British. 
At last a force of two hundred and thirty French, led by Beaujeu and 


226 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Dumas, and a body of six hundred and thirty-seven Indians set out from 
Du Quesne with a view to harass and annoy the English rather than to 
face them in a serious battle. It was the purpose of the French, who 
were entirely familiar with the ground, to lay an ambuscade at a favor¬ 
able point seven miles distant from the fort. They were just reaching 
the selected spot and settling into ambush when the flanking-parties of 
the English came in sight. The French fired; the Indians yelled and 
slunk into their hiding-places, and the battle began. 

13. If Gage had at once thrown forward his forces to the support of 

the guards, the day could have been 
saved; but he was confused and un¬ 
decided. The flanking parties were 
driven in, leaving their six-pounders 
in the hands of the enemy. Gage’s 
men wavered, and were mixed in the 
thickset underwood with a regiment 
which Braddock had pushed forward 
to the rescue. The confusion became 
greater, and there were symptoms of 
a panic. The men fired constantly, 
but could see no enemy. Every 
volley from the hidden foe flew with 
deadly certainty into the crowded 
ranks of the English. The rash but 
brave general rushed to the front and 
rallied his men with the energy of despair; but it was all in vain. The 
men stood huddled together like sheep, or fled in terror to the rear. The 
forest was strewn with the dead; the savages, emboldened by their unex¬ 
pected success, crept farther and farther along the flanks; and the battle 
became a rout. Braddock had five horses shot under him ; his secretary 
was killed; both his English aids were disabled; only Washington re¬ 
mained to distribute orders. Out of eighty-two officers twenty-six were 
killed and thirty-seven wounded. Of the privates seven hundred and 
fourteen were dead or bleeding with wounds. At last the general re¬ 
ceived a ball in his right side and sank fainting to the ground. “ What 
shall we do now, colonel?” said he to Washington, who came to his assist¬ 
ance. “ Retreat, sir—retreat by all means,” replied the young hero, upon 
whom everything now depended. His own bosom had been for more 
than two hours a special target for the savages. Two horses had fallen 
under him, and four times his coat had been torn with balls. A Shawnee 
chief singled him out and bade his warriors do the same; but their volleys 






RUIN OF ACADIA. 


227 


went by harmless. The retreat began at once, and the thirty Virginians, 
who, with Washington, were all that remained alive, covered the flight of 
the ruined army. The artillery, provisions, baggage and private papers 
of the general were left on the field. 

14. The losses of the French and Indians were slight, amounting to 
three officers and thirty men killed, and as many others wounded. There 
was no attempt made at pursuit. The savages fairly reveled in the spoils 
of the battle-field. They had never known so rich a harvest of scalps 
and booty. The tawny chiefs returned to Fort du Quesne clad in the 
laced coats, military boots and cockades of the British officers. The 
dying Braddock was borne in the train of the fugitives. Once he roused 
himself to say, “ Who would have thought it?” and again, a We shall 
better know how to deal with them another time.” On the evening of 
the fourth day he died, and was buried by the roadside a mile west of Fort 
Necessity. When the fugitives reached Dunbar’s camp, the confusion was 
greater than ever. Dunbar was a man of feeble capacity and no courage; 
pretending to have the orders of the dying general, he proceeded to de¬ 
stroy the remaining artillery, the heavy baggage, and all the public stores, 
to the value of a hundred thousand pounds. Then followed a precipitate 
retreat to Fort Cumberland, and then an abandonment of that place for 
the safer precincts of Philadelphia. It was only the beginning of August, 
yet Dunbar pleaded the necessity of finding winter quarters for his forces. 
The great expedition of Braddock had ended in such a disaster as spread 
consternation and gloom over all the colonies. 


CHAPTER III. 

RUIN OF ACADIA. 

B Y the treaty of Utrecht, made in 1713, the province of Acadia, or Nova 
Scotia, was ceded by France to England. During the following fifty 
years the colony remained under the dominion of Great Britain, and was 
ruled by English officers. But the great majority of the people were 
French, and the English government amounted only to a military occu¬ 
pation of the peninsula. The British colors, floating over Louisburg and 
Annapolis, and the presence of British garrisons here and there, were the 
only tokens that this, the oldest French colony in America, had passed 
under the control of foreigners. 



228 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


2. At the time of the cession the population amounted to about three 
thousand; by the outbreak of the French and Indian War the number 
had increased to more than sixteen thousand. Lawrence, the deputy- 
governor of the province, pretended to fear an insurrection. When Brad- 
dock and the colonial governors convened at Alexandria, it was urged 
that something must be done to overawe the French and strengthen the 
English authority in Acadia. The enterprise of reducing the French 
peasants to complete humiliation was entrusted to Lawrence, who was 
to be assisted by a British fleet under Colonel Monckton. On the 20th of 
May, 1755, the squadron, with three thousand troops, sailed from Boston 
for the Bay of Fundy. 

3. The French had but two fortified posts in the province; both of 
these were on the isthmus which divides Nova Scotia from New Bruns¬ 
wick. The first and most important fortress, named Beau-Sejour, was sit¬ 
uated near the mouth of Messagouche 
Creek, at the head of Chignecto Bay. 
The other fort, a mere stockade called 
Gaspereau, was on the north side of 
the isthmus, at Bay Verte. De Yer- 
gor, the French commandant, had 
no intimation of approaching danger 
till the English fleet sailed fearlessly 
into the bay and anchored before the 
walls of Beau-Sejour. There was no 
preparation for defence. On the 3d 
of June the English forces landed, 
and on the next day forced their way 
across the Messagouche. A vigorous 

siege of four days followed. Fear and confusion reigned among the gar¬ 
rison ; no successful resistance could be offered. On the 16th of the month 
Beau-Sejour capitulated, received an English garrison and took the name 
of Fort Cumberland. The feeble post at Gaspereau was taken a few days 
afterward, and named Fort Monckton. Captain Rous was despatched with 
four vessels to capture the fort at the mouth of the St. John’s; but before 
the fleet could reach its destination, the French reduced the town to ashes 
and escaped into the interior. In a campaign of less than a month, and 
with a loss of only twenty men, the English had made themselves masters 
of the whole country east of the St. Croix. 

4. The war in Acadia was at an end; but what should be done with 
the people? The French inhabitants still outnumbered the English 
nearly three to one. Governor Lawrence and Admiral Boscawen, in con- 



THE ACADIAN ISTHMUS, 1755. 







RUIN OF ACADIA. 


229 


ference with the chief justice of the province, settled upon tim atrocious 
measure of driving the people into banishment. The first movement was 
to demand an oath of allegiance which was so framed that the French, as 
honest Catholics, could not take it. The priests advised the peasants to 
declare their loyalty, but refuse the oath, which was meant to ensnare their 
souls. The next step on the part of the English was to accuse the French 
of treason, and to demand the surrender of all their firearms and boats. 
To this measure the broken-hearted people also submitted. They even 
offered to take the oath, but Lawrence declared that, having once refused, 
they must now take the consequences. The British vessels were made 
ready, and the work of forcible embarkation began. 

5. The country about the isthmus was covered with peaceful hamlets. 



THE EXILE OF THE ACADIANS.* 


These were now laid waste, and the people driven into the larger towns on 
the coast. Others were induced by artifice and treachery to put them¬ 
selves into the power of the English. Wherever a sufficient number of 
the French could be gotten together they were driven on shipboard. 
They were allowed to take their wives and children and as much property 
as would not be inconvenient on the vessels. The estates of the province 
were confiscated, and what could not be appropriated was given to the 


* Longfellow’s Evangeline is founded on this incident. 









230 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


flames. The wails of thousands of bleeding hearts were wafted to heaven 
w T ith the smoke of burning homes. At the village of Grand Pre four 
hundred and eighteen unarmed men were called together and shut up in 
a church. Then came the wives and children, the old men and the 
mothers, the sick and the infirm, to share the common fate. The whole 
company numbered more than nineteen hundred souls. The poor crea¬ 
tures were driven down to the shore, forced into the boats at the point 
of the bayonet, and carried to the vessels in the bay. As the moaning 
fugitives cast a last look at their pleasant town, a column of black smoke 
floating seaward told the story of desolation. More than three thousand 
of the hapless Acadians were carried away by the British squadron and 
scattered, helpless, half starved and dying, among the English colonies. 
The history of civilized nations furnishes no parallel to this wanton and 
wicked destruction of an inoffensive colony. 


CHAPTER IV. 

EXPEDITIONS OF SHIRLEY AND JOHNSON. 

T HE third campaign planned by Braddock at Alexandria was to be 
conducted by Governor Shirley of Massachusetts. The expedition 
was to proceed from Albany to Oswego, and thence by water to the 
mouth of the Niagara. It Avas known that Fort Niagara Avas an insig¬ 
nificant post, depending for its defence upon a small ditch, a rotten 
palisade and a feeble garrison. To capture this place, to obtain command 
of the river, and to cut off the communications of the French by way of 
the lakes, Avere the objects of the campaign. “ Fort du Quesne can hardly 
detain me more than three or four days,” said Braddock to Shirley, “ and 
then I Avill meet you at Niagara.” 

2. In the early part of August, Shirley set out at the head of nearly 
tAvo thousand men. It Avas the last of the month before he reached 
OsAvego. Here the provincial forces had been ordered to assemble. Four 
weeks were spent in preparing boats for embarkation. When everything 
was in readiness, a storm arose; and when the storm abated, the Avinds hleAv 
in the Avrong direction. Then came another tempest and another delay; 
then sickness prevailed in the camp. With the beginning of October 



EXPEDITIONS OF SHIRLEY AND JOHNSON. 


231 


Shirley declared the lake to be dangerous for navigation. The Indians 
deserted the standard of a leader whose skill in war consisted in framing 
excuses. The fact was that the general, while on the inarch to Oswego, 
had learned of the destruction of Braddock’s army, and feared that a sim¬ 
ilar fate might overtake his own. On the 24th of October the greater 
part of the provincial forces, led by Shirley, marched homeward. Only 
one result of any importance followed from the campaign—the fort at 
Oswego was well rebuilt and garrisoned with seven hundred men under 
Mercer. 

3. Far more important was the expedition entrusted to General Wil¬ 
liam Johnson. The object had in view was to capture the enemy’s fort¬ 
ress at Crown Point, and to drive the French from the shores of Lake 
Champlain. Johnson’s army numbered three thousand four hundred 
men, including a body of friendly Mohawks. The active work of the 
campaign began early in August, when General Phineas Lyman, at the 
head of the New England troops, proceeded to the Hudson above Albany, 
and at a point just below where the river bends ab¬ 
ruptly to the west built Fort Edward. Thither in 
the last days of summer came the commanding general 
with the main division. The watershed between the 
Hudson and Lake George is only twelve miles wide. 

Johnson’s army marched across to the head of the lake 
and laid out a commodious camp. A week was spent 
in bringing forward the artillery and stores. The 
soldiers were busy preparing boats for embarkation, 
and the important matter of fortifying the camp was 
wholly neglected. 

4. In the mean time, Dieskau, the daring command¬ 
ant at Crown Point, determined to anticipate the 
movements of the English. With a force of fourteen, 
hundred French, Canadians and Indians he sailed up 
Lake Champlain to South Bay. From this point he marched to the 



VICINITY OF LAKE 
GEORGE, 1755 . 


upper springs of Wood Creek, intending to strike to the south, pass the 
English army and capture Fort Edward before the alarm could be given. 
But the news was carried to General Johnson; and a force of a thousand 
men under command of Colonel Williams, accompanied by Hendrick, the 
gray-haired chieftain of the Mohawks, with two hundred warriors, was 
sent to the relief of the endangered fort. On the previous night Dieskau’s 
guides had led him out of his course. On the morning of the 8th of 
September the French general found himself and his army about four 
miles north of Fort Edward, on the main road from the Hudson to Lake 





232 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


George. Just at this time Colonel Williams’s regiment and the Mohawks 
came in sight, marching toward the fort. Dieskau quickly formed an 
ambush, and the English were entrapped; but the Indian allies of the 
French showed themselves to their countrymen, and would not fire. The 
Canadians and the French poured in a deadly volley; both Williams and 
Hendrick fell dead, and the English were thrown into confusion. But 
Colonel Whiting rallied the troops, returned the enemy’s fire, and re¬ 
treated toward the lake. St. Pierre, one of the French generals, was 
killed. 

5. The noise of battle was heard in Johnson’s camp, and preparations 
were made for a general engagement. There were no entrenchments, but 
trees were hastily felled for breastworks, and the cannons were brought 
into position. It was Dieskau’s plan to rush into the English camp 
along with the fugitives whom he was driving before him; but the In¬ 
dians, afraid of Johnson’s guns, would not join in the assault; the Bed 
men retired to a hill at a safe distance. The Canadians were disheartened; 
and the handful of French regulars made the onset almost unsupported. 
It was tl e fiercest battle which had yet been fought on American soil. 
For five hours the conflict was incessant. In the beginning of the engage¬ 
ment Johnson received a slight wound and left the field; but the troops 
of New England fought on without a commander. Nearly all of Dieskau’s 
regulars were killed. At last the English troops leaped over the fallen 
trees, charged across the field, and completed the rout. Three times 
Dieskau was wounded, but he would not retire. His aids came to bear 
him off; one was shot dead, and he forbade the others. He ordered his 
servants to bring him his military dress, and then seated himself on the 
stump of a tree. A renegade Frenchman belonging to the English army 
rushed up to make him a prisoner. The wounded general felt for his 
watch to tender it in token of surrender. The Frenchman, thinking that 
Dieskau was searching for a pistol, fired, and the brave commander fell, 
mortally wounded. 

6. The victory, though complete, was dearly purchased. Two hun¬ 
dred and sixteen of the English were killed, and many others wounded. 
General Johnson, who had done but little, was greatly praised ; Parliament 
made him a baronet for gaining a victory which the provincials gained 
for him. Made wiser by the battle, he now constructed on the site of his 
camp a substantial fort, and named it William Henry. The defences of 
Fort Edward were strengthened with an additional garrison, and the 
remainder of the troops returned to their homes. Meanwhile, the French 
had reinforced Crown Point, and had seized and fortified Ticonderoga. 
Such was the condition of affairs at the close of 1755. 


TWO YEARS OF DISASTER. 


233 


CHAPTER V. 


TWO YEARS OF DISASTER. 



FTER the death of Braddock the chief command of the English 


-FL forces in America was given to Governor Shirley. But no regular 
military organization had been elfected; and the war was carried on in a 
desultory manner. Braddock had ruined one army; Shirley had scat¬ 
tered another. On Lake George, Johnson had achieved a marked suc¬ 
cess. In the beginning of 1756, Washington at the head of the Vir¬ 
ginian provincials repelled the French and Indians in the valley of the 
Shenandoah. At the same time the Pennsylvania volunteers, choosing 
Franklin for their colonel, marched to the banks of the Lehigh, built a 
fort, and made a successful campaign. In the preceding December, 
Shirley met the colonial governors at New York and planned the move¬ 
ments for the following year. One expedition, proceeding by way of the 
Kennebec, was to threaten Quebec. Forts Frontenac, Toronto and Niagara 
were to be taken. Du Quesne, Detroit and Mackinaw, deprived of their 
communications, must of course surrender. 

2. In the mean time, after much debate in Parliament, it was decided 
to consolidate and put under one authority all the military forces in 
America. The earl of Loudoun received the appointment of commander- 
in-chief. General Abercrombie was second in rank; and forty British 
and German officers were commissioned to organize and discipline the 
colonial army. In the last of April, 1756, Abercrombie, with two bat¬ 
talions of regulars, sailed for New York. Lord Loudoun was to follow 
with a fleet of transports, bearing the artillery, tents, ammunition and 
equipage of the expedition. The commander waited a month for his 
vessels, and then sailed without them. On the 15tli of June a man-of- 
war was despatched to America with a hundred thousand pounds to reim¬ 
burse the colonies for the expenses of the previous campaigns. At the 
same time the corps of British officers arrived at New York. Meanwhile, 
on the 17th of May, Great Britain, after nearly two years of actual hos¬ 
tilities, made an open declaration of war, which was followed by a similar 
declaration on the part of France. 

3. On the 25th of June, Abercrombie reached Albany. He began his 
great campaign by surveying the town, digging a ditch and quartering 


234 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


his soldiers with the citizens. In July, Lord Loudoun arrived and 
assumed the command of the colonial army. The French, meanwhile, 
profiting by these delays, organized a force of more than five thousand 
men, crossed Lake Ontario and laid siege to Oswego. The marquis of 
Montcalm, who had succeeded Dieskau as commander-in-chief, led the 
expedition. At the mouth of Oswego River there were two forts; the 
old block-house on the west and the new Fort Ontario on the east. The 
latter was first attacked. Thirty pieces of cannon were brought to bear 
on the fortress. After a brave defence of one day, the little garrison 
abandoned the works and escaped to the old fort across the river. This 
place was also invested by the French. For two days the English, num¬ 
bering only fourteen hundred, held out against the besiegers, and then sur¬ 
rendered. A vast amount of ammunition, small arms, accoutrements 
and provisions fell to the captors. Six vessels of war, three hundred 
boats, a hundred and twenty cannon and three chests of money were the 
further fruits of a victory by which France gained the only important 
outpost of England on the lakes. To please his Indian allies, Montcalm 
ordered Oswego to be razed to the ground. 

4. During this summer the Delawares, false to their treaty, rose in 
Western Pennsylvania and almost ruined the country. More than a 
thousand people were killed or carried into captivity. In August, Colonel 
John Armstrong, at the head of three hundred volunteers, crossed the 
Alleghanies, and after a twenty days’ march reached the Indian town of Kit- 
taning, forty-five miles north-east from Pittsburg. Lying in concealment 
until daydawn on the morning of September 8th, the English rose against 
the savages, and after a desperate battle destroyed them almost to a man. 
The village was burned and the spirit of the barbarians completely broken. 
The Americans lost sixteen men. Colonel Armstrong and Captain Hugh 
Mercer, afterward distinguished in the Revolution, were both severely 
wounded. 

5. Lord Loudoun continued at Albany. His forces were amply suffi¬ 
cient to capture every stronghold of Canada in the space of six weeks. 
Instead of marching boldly to the north, he whiled away the summer and 
fall, talked about an attack from the French, digged ditches, slandered 
the provincial officers and waited for winter. When the frosts came, he 
made haste to distribute the colonial troops and to quarter the regulars on 
the principal towns. The vigilant French, learning what sort of a general 
they had to cope with, crowded Lake Champlain with boats, strengthened 
Crown Point and completed a fort at Ticonderoga. With the exception 
of Armstrong’s expedition against the Indians, the year 1756 closed with¬ 
out a single substantial success on the part of the English. 


TWO YEARS OF DISASTER. 


235 


6. And the year 1757 was equally disastrous. The campaign which 
was planned by Loudoun was limited to the conquest of Louisburg. Ever 
since the treaty of Utrecht the French had retained Cape Breton; and 
the fortress at Louisburg had been made one of the strongest on the con¬ 
tinent. On the 20th of June, Lord Loudoun sailed from New York with 
an army of six thousand regulars. By the first of July he was at Hal¬ 
ifax, where he was joined by Admiral Holbourn with a powerful fleet of 
sixteen men-of-war. There were on board five thousand additional 
troops fresh from the armies of England. Never was such a use made of 
a splendid armament. Loudoun landed before Halifax, cleared off a mus¬ 
tering plain, and set his officers to drilling regiments already skilled in 
every manoeuvre of war. To heighten the absurdity, the fields about the 
city were planted with onions. For it was said that the men might take 
the scurvy! By and by the news came that the French vessels in the 
harbor of Louisburg outnumbered by one the ships of the English squad¬ 
ron. To attack a force that seemed superior to his own was not a part of 
Loudoun’s tactics. Ordering the fleet to go cruising around Cape Breton, 
he immediately embarked with his army, and sailed for New York. 
Arriving at this place, he proposed to his officers to fortify Long Island 
in order to defend the continent against an enemy whom he outnumbered 
four to one. 

7. Meanwhile, the daring Montcalm had made a brilliant campaign in 
the country of Lake George. With a force of six thousand French and 
Canadians and seventeen hundred Indians he proceeded up the Sorel, 
entered Lake Champlain, and reached Ticonderoga. The object of the 
expedition was to capture and destroy Fort William Henry. The French 
and the Iroquois, who had now abandoned the cause of the colonies, were 
fired with enthusiasm. Dragging their artillery and boats across the 
portage to Lake George, they re-embarked, and on the 3d of August laid 
siege to the English fort. The place was defended by only five hundred 
men under the brave Colonel Monro ; but there were seventeen hundred 
additional troops within supporting distance in the adjacent trenches. All 
this while General Webb was at Fort Edward, but fourteen miles distant, 
with an army of more than four thousand British regulars. Instead of 
advancing to the relief of Fort William Henry, Webb held a council to 
determine if it were not better to retire to Albany, and sent a message to 
Colonel Monro advising capitulation. 

8. For six days the French pressed the siege with vigor. The ammu¬ 
nition of the garrison was nearly exhausted; half of the guns were burst; 
nothing remained but to surrender. Honorable terms were granted. The 
English, retaining their private effects, were released on a pledge not to 


236 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


re-enter the service for eighteen months. A safe escort was promised to 
Fort Edward. On the 9th of August the French took possession of the 
fortress. Unfortunately, the Indians procured a quantity of spirits from 
the English camp. Maddened with intoxication, and in spite of the 
utmost exertions of Montcalm and his officers, the savages fell upon the 
prisoners and began a massacre. Thirty of the English were tomahawked 
and many others dragged away into captivity. The retirement of the 
garrison to Fort Edward became a panic and a rout. 

9. Such had been the successes of France during the year that the 
English had not a single hamlet or fortress remaining in the whole basin 
of the St. Lawrence. Every cabin where English was spoken had been 
swept out of the Ohio valley. At the close of the year 1757, France pos¬ 
sessed twenty times as much American territory as England; and five 
times as much as England and Spain together. Such had been the im¬ 
becility of the English management in America that the flag of Great 
Britain was brought into disgrace. 


CHAPTER VI. 

TWO YEARS OF SUCCESSES. 

G REAT was the discouragement in England. The duke of Newcastle 
and his associates in the government were obliged to resign. A new 
ministry was formed, at the head of which was placed that remarkable 
man William Pitt, called the Great Commoner. The imbecile Lord 
Loudoun was deposed from the American army. General Abercrombie 
was appointed to succeed him; but the main reliance for success was 
placed, not so much on the commander-in-chief, as on an efficient corps 
of subordinate officers whom the wisdom of Pitt now directed to America. 
Admiral Boscawen was put in command of the fleet, consisting of twenty- 
two ships of the line and fifteen frigates. The able general Amherst was 
to lead a division. Young Lord Howe, brave and amiable, was next in 
rank to Abercrombie. The gallant James Wolfe led a brigade. General 
Forbes held an important command; and Colonel Richard Montgomery 
was at the head of a regiment. 

2. Three campaigns were planned for 1758. Amherst, acting in con- 



TWO YEARS OF SUCCESSES. 


237 


junction with the fleet, was to capture Louisburg. Lord Howe, under 
the direction of the commander-in-chief, was to reduce Crown Point 
and Ticonderoga. The recovery of the Ohio valley was entrusted to 
General Forbes. On the 28th of May, Amherst, at the head of ten 
thousand effective men, reached Halifax. In six days more the fleet was 
anchored in Gabarus Bay. Wolfe put his division into boats, rowed 
through the surf under fire of the French batteries, and gained the shore 
without serious loss. The French dismantled their battery and retreated. 
Wolfe next gained possession of the north-east harbor and planted heavy 
guns on the cape near the lighthouse. From this position the island 
battery of the French was soon silenced. Louisburg was fairly invested, 
and the siege was pressed with great vigor. On the 21st of July three 
French vessels were burned in the harbor. Two days later, the Prudent, 
a seventy-four gun ship, was fired and destroyed by the English boats. 
The town was already a heap of ruins, and the walls of the fortress began 
to crumble. For a whole week the French soldiers had no place where 
they could rest in safety; of their fifty-two cannon only twelve remained 
in position. Further resistance was hopeless. On the 28th of July 
Louisburg capitulated. Cape Breton and Prince Edward’s Island were sur¬ 
rendered to Great Britain. The garrison, together with the marines, in 
all nearly six thousand men, became prisoners of war and were sent to 
England. Amherst after his great success abandoned Louisburg, and the 
fleet took station at Halifax. 

3. Meanwhile, General Abercrombie had not been idle. On the 5th of 
July an army of fifteen thousand men, led by Lord Howe, reached Lake 
George and embarked for Ticonderoga. With heavy guns and abundant 
stores the expedition proceeded to the northern extremity of the lake and 
landed on the western shore. The country about the French fortress was 
very unfavorable for military operations. The English proceeded with 
great difficulty, leaving their artillery behind. Lord Howe led the ad¬ 
vance in person. On the morning of the 6th, when the English were 
nearing the fort, they fell in with the picket line of the French, number¬ 
ing no more than three hundred. A severe skirmish ensued; the French 
were overwhelmed, but not until they had inflicted on the English a 
terrible loss in the death of Lord Howe. The soldiers were stricken with 
grief, and began a retreat to the landing. Abercrombie was in the rear, 
but the soul of the expedition had departed. 

4. On the morning of the 8th the English engineer reported falsely 
that the fortifications of Ticonderoga were flimsy and trifling. Again the 
army was put in motion; and when just beyond the reach of the French 
guns, the divisions were arranged to carry the place by assault. For more 


238 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


than four hours column after column clashed with great bravery against 
the breastworks of the enemy, which were found to be strong and well 
constructed. The defence was made by nearly four thousand French 
under Montcalm, who, with coat olf in the hot July afternoon, was every¬ 
where present encouraging his men. At six o’clock in the evening the 
English were finally repulsed. The carnage was dreadful, the loss on the 
side of the assailants amounting in killed and wounded to nineteen hun¬ 
dred and sixteen. In no battle of the Revolution did the British have so 
large a force engaged or meet so terrible a loss. 

5. The English still outnumbered the French three to one; and they 
might have easily returned with their artillery and captured the fort. But 
Abercrombie was not the man to do it. He returned to Fort George, at 
the head of the lake, and contented himself with sending a force of three 
thousand men under Colonel Bradstreet against Fort Frontenac. This 
fortress was situated on the present site of Kingston, at the outlet of Lake 
Ontario. Marching through the country of the Indians who were still 
friendly to the English, Bradstreet reached Oswego, embarked his forces, 
crossed the lake and landed within a mile of Frontenac. The place was 
feebly defended, and a siege of two days compelled a capitulation. The 
fortress, so important to the French, was demolished. Forty-six cannon, 
nine vessels of war and a vast quantity of stores were the fruits of the 
victory. Except in the waste of life, Bradstreet’s success more than coun¬ 
terbalanced the failure of the English at Ticonderoga. The French were 
everywhere weakened and despairing. In Canada the crops had failed, 
and there was almost a famine. “ Peace, peace, no matter with what 
boundaries,” was the message which the brave Montcalm sent to the 
French ministry. 

6. Late in the summer, Forbes, at the head of nine thousand men, ad¬ 
vanced from Philadelphia against Fort du Quesne. Washington led the 
Virginia provincials, and Armstrong, who had so distinguished himself 
at Kittaning, the Pennsylvanians. The main body moved slowly, clear¬ 
ing a broad road and bridging the streams. Washington and the pro¬ 
vincials were impatient. Major Grant, more rash than wise, pressed on 
to within a few miles of Du Quesne. Attempting to lead the French 
and Indians into an ambuscade, he was himself ambuscaded, and lost a 
third of his forces. Slowly the main division approached the fort, which 
was defended by no more than five hundred men. On the 24th of No¬ 
vember, Washington with the advance was within ten miles of Du 
Quesne. During that night the garrison took the alarm, burned the fort¬ 
ress and floated down the Ohio. On the 25th the victorious army 
marched over the ruined bastions, raised the English flag, and named 


TWO YEARS OF SUCCESSES. 


239 


the place Pittsburg. The name of the great British minister was justly 
written over “ the gateway of the West.” 

7. General Amherst was now promoted to the chief command of the 
American forces. Parliament cheerfully voted twelve million pounds 
sterling to carry on the war. The colonies exerted themselves to the 
utmost. By the beginning of summer, 1759, the British and colonial 
forces numbered nearly fifty thousand men. The whole population of 
Canada was only eighty-two thousand; and the entire French army 
scarcely exceeded seven thousand. Nothing less than the conquest of all 
Canada would satisfy Pitt’s ambition. Three campaigns were planned 
for the year. General Prideaux was to conduct an expedition against 
Niagara, capture the fortress and descend the lake to Montreal. Amherst 
was to lead the main division against Ticonderoga and Crown Point. 
General Wolfe was to proceed up the St. Lawrence and finish the work 
bv capturing Quebec. 

8. By way of Schenectady and Oswego, Prideaux led his forces to 
Niagara. On the 10th of July the place was invested. The French 
general D’Aubry collected from Detroit, Erie, Le Boeuf and Venango a 
body of twelve hundred men, and marched to the relief of the fort. On 
the 15th, by the accidental bursting of a mortar, General Prideaux was 
killed. Sir William Johnson, succeeding to the command, disposed his 
forces so as to intercept the approaching French. On the morning of the 
24th, D’Aubry’s army came in sight, A bloody engagement ensued, in 
which the French were completely routed, leaving their unnumbered 
<lead scattered for miles through the forest. On the next day Niagara 
•capitulated and received an English garrison. The French forces in the 
town, to the number of six hundred, became prisoners of war. Commun¬ 
ication between Canada and Louisiana was for ever broken. 

9. At the same time Amherst was conquering on Lake Champlain. , 
With an army of more than eleven thousand men he proceeded against 
Ticonderoga. On the 22d of July the English forces were disembarked 
near the landing-place of Abercrombie. The French did not dare to 
stand against them. There was a slight skirmish, and then the trenches 
were deserted. Fort Carillon was given up. On the 26th the French 
garrison, having partly destroyed the fortifications, abandoned Ticon¬ 
deroga and retreated to Crown Point. Five days afterward they de¬ 
serted this place also, and entrenched themselves on Isle-aux-Noix, in the 
river Sorel. The whole country of Lake Champlain had been recovered 
without a battle. 

10. It remained for General Wolfe to achieve the final victory. As 
soon as a tardy spring had cleared the St. Lawrence of ice, he began the 


240 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



VICINITY OF QUEBEC, 1759 . 


ascent of the river. His force consisted of nearly eight thousand men, 
assisted by a fleet of forty-four vessels under command of Admiral Saun¬ 
ders. On the 27th of June the armament arrived without accident at 
the Isle of Orleans, four miles below Quebec. The English camp was 

pitched at the upper end of the 
island. Wolfe’s vessels gave him 
immediate command of the river, 
and the southern bank was unde¬ 
fended. On the night of the 29th, 
General Monckton was sent with four 
battalions to seize Point Levi. The 
movement was successful, and an 
English battery was planted opposite 
the city. From this position the 
Lower Town was soon reduced to 
ruins, and the Upper Town much 
injured; but the fortress seemed im¬ 
pregnable. The French, knowing 
that it would be impossible to storm 
the city from the river side, had drawn their line of entrenchment from the 
northern bank of the St. Lawrence, reaching for five miles from the 
Montmorenci to the St. Charles. Here Montcalm with ten or twelve 
thousand French and Canadians awaited the movements of his antagonist. 

11. Wolfe was restless and anxious for battle. On the 9th of July he 
crossed the north channel, and encamped with his army on the east bank 
of the Montmorenci. It was determined in a council of war to hazard 
an engagement. The Montmorenci was fordable when the tide ran out. 
The attack was planned for July 31st, at the hour of low water. Generals 
.Townshend and Murray were ordered to ford the stream with their two 
brigades, and at the same time Monekton’s regiments of regulars were to 
cross the St. Lawrence from Point Levi and aid in the assault. The 
signal was given, and the grenadiers of Murray and Townshend dashed 
across the Montmorenci; but the boats of Monckton ran aground, and there 
was considerable delay. The impatient grenadiers, without waiting for 
orders or support, rushed forward against the French entrenchments, and 
were driven back with great loss. Before the regulars could be formed 
in line the battle was decided. Night was approaching; the tide rising; 
a storm portended; and Wolfe, after losing nearly five hundred men, with¬ 
drew to his camp. 

12. Disappointment, exposure and fatigue threw the English general 
into a violent fever, and for many days he was confined to his tent. A 





TWO YEARS OF SUCCESSES. 


241 


council of officers was called, and the indomitable leader proposed a second 
assault on the I fench lines. But the proposition was overruled, and it 
was decided to ascend 


the St. Lawrence, and 
if possible gain pos¬ 
session of the Plains 
of Abraham, in the 
rear of the city. The 
camp on the Mont- 
morenci was accord¬ 
ingly broken up, and 
on the 6th of Septem¬ 
ber the troops and ar¬ 
tillery were conveyed 
to Point Levi. Keep¬ 
ing the French excited 
with appearances of 
activity, Wolfe again 
transferred his army to 
a point several miles 
up the river. He then 
busied himself with a 
careful examination of 
the northern bank, in 
the hope of finding 
some path among the precipitous cliffs by which to gain the plains. On 
the 11th he discovered the place called Wolfe’s Cove, and decided that 
here it was possible to make the ascent. Montcalm, deceived by the 
movements of the fleet, was still in the trenches below the city. 

13. On the night of the 12th of September everything was in readi¬ 
ness. The English silently entered their transports and dropped down 
the river to the cove. With great difficulty the soldiers clambered up 
the almost perpendicular precipice; the feeble Canadian guard on the 
summit was dispersed; and in the gray dawn of morning Wolfe mar¬ 
shaled his army for battle. Montcalm was in amazement when he heard 
the news. “ They are now on the weak side of this unfortunate town/’ 
said he; “ and we must crush them before mid-day.” With great haste 
the French were brought from the trenches and thrown between Quebec 
and the advancing English. The battle began with an hour’s cannonade; 
then Montcalm attempted to turn the English flank, but was beaten back. 
The Canadians and Indians were routed. Then came the weakened bat- 



GEN'KKAL JAMES WOLFE. 


242 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


talions of the French ; but they were poorly disciplined ; the ground was 
uneven, and Montcalm’s lines advanced brokenly. The English reserved 
their fire until the advancing columns were within forty yards, and then 
discharged volley after volley. The French wavered and were in con¬ 
fusion. Wolfe, leading the charge, was wounded in the wrist. Again 
he was struck, but pressed on at the head of his grenadiers. Just at the 
moment of victory a third ball pierced his breast, and he sank quivering 
to the earth. “ They run, they run!” said the attendant who bent over 
him. “Who run?” was the feeble response. “The French are flying 
everywhere,” replied the officer. “ Do they run already ? Then I die 
happy,” said the expiring hero; and his spirit passed away amid the 
smoke of battle. Monckton was dangerously wounded and borne from the 
field. Montcalm, still attempting to rally his broken regiments, was 
struck with a ball, and fell. “Shall I survive?” said he to his surgeon. 
“ But a few hours at most,” replied the attendant. “ So much the better,” 
replied the heroic Frenchman. “ I shall not live to witness the surrender 
of Quebec.” 

14. Further defence of the Canadian stronghold was useless. Five 
days after the battle the French authorities surrendered to General Town- 
shend, and an English garrison took possession of the citadel. The year 
1759 closed with the complete triumph of the English arms. In the 
following spring France made a great effort to recover her losses. A severe 
battle was fought a few miles west of Quebec, and the English were 
driven into the city. But reinforcements came, and the French were 
beaten back. On the 8th of September, in the same year, Montreal, the 
last important post of France in the valley of the St. Lawrence, surren¬ 
dered to General Amherst. Canada had passed under the dominion of 
England. 

15. In the spring of 1760 the Cherokees of Tennessee rose against the 
English. Fort Loudoun, in the north-eastern extremity of the State, was 
besieged by the Bed men, and forced to capitulate. Honorable terms were 
promised to the garrison; but as soon as the surrender was made, the 
savages fell upon their prisoners and massacred or dragged into captivity 
the whole company. Colonels Montgomery and Grant were despatched 
by General Amherst to chastise the Indians. After a vigorous campaign 
the savages were driven into the mountains and compelled to sue for 
peace. 

16. For three years the war between France and England continued 
on the ocean. The English fleets were everywhere victorious. On the 
10th of February, 1763, a treaty of peace was made at Paris. All the 
French possessions in North America eastward of the Mississippi from its 


RECAPITULA TION. 


243 


source to the river Iberville, and thence through Lakes Maurepas and 
Pontchartrain to the Gulf of Mexico, were surrendered to Great Britain. 
At the same time Spain, with whom England had been at war, ceded 
East and West Florida to the English Crown. Thus closed the French 
and Indian War, one of the most important in the history of mankind. 
By this conflict it W’as decided that the decaying institutions of the Middle 
Ages should not prevail in the West; and that the powerful language, 
laws and liberties of the English race should be planted for ever in the 
vast domains of the New World. 


RECAPITULATION. 


CHAPTER I. 

The colonies begin to act together.—A sense of common danger unites them.—The 
French and Indian War arises.—Causes considered.—Conflicting territorial claims.— 
English colonies on the sea-board.—French colonies in the interior.—France purposes to 
confine the English to the Atlantic slope.—French.settlements result from the efforts 
of the Jesuits.—Missions are established on the lakes.—Joliet and Marquette discover 
the Mississippi.—Descend the river.—Return to Michigan.—La Salle passes through 
the lakes.—Descends the Illinois.—Goes to Canada.—Returns.—And explores the 
Mississippi to the Gulf.—Sails for France.—Returns with a colony.—Reaches Texas.— 
Sets out for Canada.—Is murdered.—French posts are established.—The Ohio valley to 
be occupied.—The animosity of France and England leads to war.—The frontiersmen of 
the two nations come in conflict.—The Ohio Company is organized.—Obtains a grant of 
land.—Bienville explores and claims the Ohio valley.—Gist traverses the country to the 
falls of the Ohio.—The French fortify Le Boeuf and Venango.—Attack a British post.— 
Gist makes a second exploration.—An English colony on the Youghiogheny.—The In¬ 
dians favor the English.—The Half-King goes to Erie.—The chiefs confer with Frank¬ 
lin.—Dinwiddie sends a despatch to St. Pierre.—Washington is chosen for the mission. 
—Sets out by way of Will’s Creek to the site of Pittsburg.—And thence to Le Boeuf.— 
Washington confers with St. Pierre.—And returns to Virginia.—Hardships of the jour¬ 
ney.—Trent begins a fort at the fork of the Ohio.—The French capture the place.— 
And build Du Quesne.—Washington is sent to retake the fort. 

CHAPTER II. 

Washington marches to Great Meadows.—Builds Fort Necessity.—Attacks and defeats 
Jumonville.—Extends the road toward Du Quesne.—De Villiers approaches.—Attacks 
Fort Necessity.—And compels a surrender.—An American congress assembles at Albany. 
—Franklin plans a union.—The colonies reject the constitution.—France sends soldiers 
to America.—Braddock is sent by England.—He confers with the governors.—Plans 




244 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


four campaigns.—Marches his army to Fort Cumberland.—Proceeds against Du Quesne. 
—Approaches the fort.—Meets the French and Indians.—And is terribly defeated.— 
Washington saves the remnant of the army.—Death of Braddock.—Dunbar retreats.— 
Destroys the stores.—Evacuates Fort Cumberland.—Retires to Philadelphia. 

CHAPTER III. 

Nova Scotia under English rule.—Lawrence fears an insurrection.— Is authorized to 
subdue the French inhabitants.—The English fleet leaves Boston.—The French forts on 
the Bay of Fundy.—The fleet arrives at Beau-Sejour.—The place is besieged.—And 
obliged to surrender.—The other forts capitulate.—The British officers determine to exile 
the inhabitants.—The country is laid waste.—And the people carried into banishment. 

CHAPTER IV. 

A campaign is planned against Niagara.—Shirley commands.—Proceeds to Oswego.— 
Wastes the time.—Marches homeward.—Oswego is rebuilt.—Johnson and Lyman go 
against the French on Lake Champlain.—Build Fort Edward.—Form a camp on Lake 
George.—Dieskau approaches.—Proceeds by way of Wood Creek against Fort Ed¬ 
ward.—Meets the English.—And drives them to the camp.—The battle.—The French 
are defeated.—Dieskau is killed.—The English lose heavily.—Johnson builds Fort 
William Henry.—The French reinforce their forts. 

CHAPTER V. 

Shirley becomes commander-in-chief.—Washington repels the Indians.—Franklin de¬ 
fends Pennsylvania.—The campaigns of 1756 are planned.—The military forces of 
America are consolidated.—Loudoun is commander-in-chief.—He and Abercrombie 
arrive at New York with soldiers and supplies.—England declares war.—Abercrombie 
goes to Albany.—And stays there.—Montcalm besieges and captures Oswego.—The 
Delawares revolt.—And are punished.—Loudoun burrows at Albany.—The French 
strengthen their forts.—The conquest of Louisburg is planned.—Loudoun proceeds to 
Halifax.—Holbourn joins him.—They muster and do nothing.—Loudoun returns to 
New York.—Montcalm and the Iroquois besiege and capture Fort William Henry.— 
The Indians massacre the prisoners.—Review of the situation. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Pitt becomes prime minister.—Loudoun is deposed.—Abercrombie succeeds.—An able 
corps of generals sent to America.—Three campaigns are planned.—Amherst and Wolfe 
proceed against Louisburg.—Besiege and take the fortress.—Abercrombie attacks Ticon- 
deroga.—And is repulsed with great loss.—Bradstreet takes Fort Frontenac.—Montcalm 
advises peace.—Forbes marches against Du Quesne.—Grant is defeated.—Washington 
leads the advance.—The French abandon and burn Du Quesne.—The place named Pitts¬ 
burg.—Amherst commander-in-chief.—Relative strength of the English and the French. 
—Pitt plans the conquest of Canada.—Prideaux defeats the French before Niagara.— 
And captures the fortress.—Amherst takes Ticonderoga and Crown Point.—Wolfe pro¬ 
ceeds against Quebec.—Reaches the Island of Orleans.—Besieges the city.—The Lower 
Town is destroyed.—Montcalm’s position.—The battle of Montmorenci.—Wolfe’s fever. 
—He ascends the river.—Plans an assault.—Discovers Wolfe’s Cove.—Gains the Plains 
of Abraham.—Fights a decisive battle.—Defeats the French.—Is slain.—Quebec capit¬ 
ulates.—And then Montreal.—The Cherokee revolt is quelled.—The w T ar continues on 
the ocean.—England is victorious.—A treaty of peace.—The terms. 


PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES. 


245 


PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES USED IN PART II. 

[E., English; F., French; L, Indian ; S., Spanish ; Sw., Swedish; G., German; L., Latin.] 


Abenaki [I.], ab-8-nah-kI. 

Abercrombie [E.], tlb-6r-krum-bl. 
Adolphus [L.], adol-fus. 
Aix-la-Chapelle [F.], aks-lah-shah-pel. 
Ayavalla [S.], I-ah-vahl-y&. 

Bayard [E.], bl-ahrd. 

Beaujeu [F.], bo-zhu. 

Beau-Sejour [F.], bo-sa-zhoor. 
Bellomont [E.], bel-o-m8nt. 

Bienville [F.], be-ong-vel. 

Boscawen [E.], b8s-kaw-8n. 

Buddhist [Sanskrit], bood-dlst. 
Bulkeley [E.], bulk-11. 

Canonchet [I.], ka-ndn-sh8t. 

Canonicus [I.], ka-non-I-kiis. 

Canseau [F.], kan-so. 

Casimir [Sw.], kds-l-mer. 

Castin [F.], k&s-tftn. 

Chignecto [I.], she-nek-td. 

Christison [Sw.], kris-tl-sttn. 
Clarendon [E.], kldr-gn-dun. 

Copley [E.], kdp-11. 

Corees [I.], ko-rez. 

D’Anville [F.], dSng-vel. 

D’Aubrey [F.], do-bra. 

Dave [E.], da. 

De Vergor [F.], du-var-gor. 

De Villiers [F.], du-vel-yar. 

De Vries [F.], du-vrez. 

Dieskau [F.], de-Cs-ko. 

Dongan [E.], dun-gan. 

Du Quesne [F.], de-kan. 

Dyar [E.], di-ar. 

Endicott [E.], en-dl-k6t. 

Esopus [E.], e-so-pus. 

Frontenac [F.], fr&n-tS-n&k. 

Gabarus [E.], ga-bdr-us. 

Gaspe [F.], gas-pa. 

Gawen r E.], gau-6n. 

Gillis [G.], gil-lls. 

Godyn [E.], go-din. 

Goffe [E.], gauf. 

Gorgeana [E.], gbr-jS-dn-d. 

Gustavus [L.], gds-ta-vus. 

Hertel [F.], h6r-tel. 

Havre de Grace [F.], hahver-du-grds. 
Hosset [G.], hds-s6t. 


Hovenden [E.], ho-ven-den. 
Isle-aux-Noix [F.], el-6-nooah. 
Joris [G.], yo-ris. 

Jumonville [F.], zhe-mbng-vel. 

Kieft [E.], keft. 

La Salle [F.], la-sftl. 

Lathrop [E.], la-thrup. 

Laurie [E.], lau-ri. 

Le Boeuf [F.], ltx-buf. 

Leddra [E.], led-ra. 

Leisler [G.], lis-lgr. 

Leverett [E.], lev-8r-6t. 

Lionel [E.], li-6-nel. 

Loudoun [E.], loo-doon. 

Lutzen [G.], letz-en. 

Markham [E.], mahrk-am. 
Marlborough [E.], mahrl-brti. 
Massasoit [I.], mas-sfts-6-It. 

Mather [E.], mdthe-gr. 

Matoaka [I.], mat-6-ftk-a. 

Matthews [E.], mdth-uz. 

Maurepas [F.], mo-rg-pah. 
Miantonomoh [I.], mi-an-to-no-mo. 
Minuit [G.], min-oo-It. 

Mohegan [I.], mo-he-gan. 

Monckton [E.], munk-tun. 

Monk [E.], munk. 

Montcalm [F.], m8nt-kahm. 
Monteano [S.], mon-ta-ahn-o. 
Montmorenci [F.], m8nt-m6-ren-sl. 
Mosley [E.], mos-18. 

Nairne [E.], narn. 

Nassau [F.], nas-so. 

Naumkeag [I.], naum-k8-dg. 
Nipmucks [I.], nip-mttks. 
Oglethorpe [E.], o-g8l-thorp. 
Oldham [E.], old-am. 
Opecancanough [I.], o-pe-kdn-kan-o. 
Orapax [I.], or-d-paks. 

Oxenstiern [Sw.], oks-8n-stern. 
Pauw [G.], pau. 

Pemaquid [I.], pem-a-kwld. 
Pepperell [E.], pep-p8r-8l. 

Pequod [I.], pe-kw8d. 

Pocahontas [I.], p8k-a-hon-tas. 
Pontchartrain [F.], pdn-shahr-tran. 
Powhatan [I.], pow-hat-an. 




246 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Presque Isle [F.], prgsk-el. 

Prideaux [F.], pre-do. 

Ratcliffe [E.], rat-kllf. 

Raymbault [F.], ram-bo. 

Ryswick [G.], res-wik. 

Samoset [I.], s&in-6-s8t 
Sassacus [I.], s&s-sak-hs. 

Sayle [E.], sal. 

Shirley [E.], shur-li. 

Sicklemore [E.], slk-el-mor. 
Sloughter [E.], slo-t6r. 

Squanto [I.], skwahn-td. 

St. Croix [F.], sant-kroi. 

Stoughton [E.], sto-tun. 

Stirling [E.], star-ling. 

St. Pierre [F.], s^n-pe-ar. 

Stuyvesant [G.], stl-vgs-ant. 
Subercase [F.], se-b8r-kahs. 
Tanacharisson [I.] 5 tan-a-k&r-is-stm. 
Theresa [G.], ter-es-a. 


Tituba [I.], tl-too-ba. 

Tomo-Chichi [I.J, to-mo-che-chl. 
Verhulst [G.], var-hoolst. 
Wadsworth [E.], wods-wiirth. 
Wainman [E.], wan-man. 

Walloons [G.], wahl-loonz. 
Wampanoags [I.], wahm-pan-o-agz. 
Welde [E.], wel-dg. 

Whalley [E.], hwahl-11. 

Whitefield [E.], hwit-feld. 
Winthrop [E.], win-thrup. 
Worcester [E.], woos-tgr. 

Wou-ter [G.], woo-ter. 

Wyatt [E.], wl-at. 

Van Twiller [G.], van-twel-lgr. 
Yamacraws [I.], yahm-akrauz. 
Yeamans [E.], ye-manz. 

Yeardley [E.], yurd-11. 
Youghiogheny [I.], yQh-hd-ga-nl 
Zenger [G.], zen-ggr. 



PART IV. 

REVOLUTION AND CONFEDERATION. 

A. I). 1775—1780. 


CHAPTER I. 

CAUSES. 

TITHE war of American Independence was an event of vast moment, 
^ affecting the destinies of all nations. The question decided by the 
conflict was this: Whether the English colonies in America, becoming 
sovereign, should govern themselves or be ruled as dependencies of a 
European monarchy. The decision was rendered in favor of separation 
and independence. The result has been the grandest and most promising 
example of republican government in the history of the world. The 
struggle was long and distressing, though not characterized by great 
violence; the combatants were of the same race and spoke a common lan¬ 
guage. It is of the first importance to understand the causes of the war. 

2. The most general cause of the American Revolution was the right 
of ARBITRARY government, claimed by Great Britain and denied by 
the colonies. So long as this claim was asserted by England only as a 
theory, the conflict was postponed; when the English government began 
to enforce the principle in practice, the colonies resisted. The question 
began to be openly discussed about the time of the treaty of Aix-la- 
Chapelle, in 1748 ; and from that period until the beginning of hostilities, 
in 1775, each year witnessed a renewal of the agitation. But there were 
also many subordinate causes tending to bring on a conflict. 

3. First of these was the influence of France, which was constantly 
exerted so as to incite a spirit of resistance in the colonies. The French 
king would never have agreed to the treaty of 1763—by which Canada 
was ceded to Great Britain—had it not been with the hope of securing 
American independence. It was the theory of France that by giving up 
Canada on the north the English colonies would become so strong as to 
renounce their allegiance to the crown. England feared such a result. 
More than once it was proposed in Parliament to re-cede Canada to France 

247 



248 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


in order to check the growth of the American States. “ There, now!” 
said a French statesman when the treaty of 1763 was signed; “we have 
arranged matters for an American rebellion in which England will lose 
her empire in the West.” 

4. Another cause leading to the Revolution was found in the natural 
disposition and inherited character of the colonists. They were, for the 
most part, republicans in politics and dissenters in religion. The people 
of England were monarchists and High Churchmen. The colonists had 
never seen a king. The Atlantic lay between them and the British min¬ 
istry. Their dealings with the royal officers had been such as. to engender 
a dislike for monarchical institutions. The people of America had not 
forgotten—could not well forget—the circumstances under which their 
ancestors had come to the New World. For six generations the colonists 
had managed their own affairs; and their methods of government were 
necessarily republican. The experiences of the French and Indian War 
had shown that Americans were fully able to defend themselves and their 
country. 

5. The growth of public opinion in the colonies tended to independence. 
The more advanced thinkers came to believe that a complete separation 
from England was not only possible, but desirable. As early as 1755, John 
Adams, then a young school-teacher in Connecticut, wrote in his diary: 
“ In another century all Europe will not be able to subdue us. The only 
way to keep us from setting up for ourselves is to disunite us.” Such 
opinions were at first expressed only in private, then by hints in pam¬ 
phlets and newspapers, and at last publicly and everywhere. The mass 
of the people, however, were slow to accept an idea which seemed so rad¬ 
ical and dangerous. Not until the war had actually begun did the ma¬ 
jority declare for independence. 

6. Another cause of the conflict with the mother country was found in 
the personal character of the king. George III., who ascended the Eng¬ 
lish throne in 1760, was one of the worst monarchs of modern times. 
His notions of government were altogether despotic. He was a stubborn, 
stupid, thick-headed man in whose mind the notion of human rights was 
entirely wanting. It was impossible for him to conceive of a magnan¬ 
imous project or to appreciate the value of civil liberty. His reign of 
sixty years was as odious as it was long. In the management of the 
British empire he employed only those who were the narrow-minded 
partisans of his own policy. His ministers were, for the most part, men 
as incompetent and illiberal as himself. With such a king and such a 
ministry it was not likely that the descendants of the Pilgrims would get 
on smoothly. 


CAUSES. 


249 


7. The more immediate cause of the Revolution was the passage by 
Parliament of a number of acts destructive of colonial liberty. These acts 
were resisted by the colonies, and the attempt was made by Great Britain 
to enforce them with the bayonet. The subject of this unjust legislation, 
which extended over a period of twelve years just preceding the war, was 
the question of taxation. It is a well-grounded principle of English 
common law that the people, by their representatives in the House of 
Commons, have the right of voting whatever taxes and customs are neces¬ 
sary for the support of the kingdom. The American colonists claimed 
the full rights of Englishmen. With good reason it was urged that the 
general assemblies of colonies held the same relation to the American 
people as did the House of Commons to the people of England. The 
English ministers replied that Parliament, and not the colonial assemblies, 
was the proper body to vote taxes in any and all parts of the British 
empire. But we are not represented in Parliament, was the answer of 
the Americans; the House of Commons may therefore justly assess taxes 
in England, but not in America. Many of the towns, boroughs and 
shires in these British isles have no representatives in Parliament, and 
yet the Parliament taxes them, replied the ministers, now driven to 
sophistry. If any of your towns, boroughs and shires are not represented 
in the House of Commons, they ought to be, was the American rejoinder; 
and there the argument ended. Such were the essential points of the 
controversy. It is now proper to notice the several parliamentary acts 
which the colonies complained of and resisted. 

8. The first of these was the Importation Act, passed in 1733. 
This statute was itself a kind of supplement to the old Navigation Act 
of 1651. By the terms of the newer law exorbitant duties were laid on 
all the sugar, molasses and rum imported into the colonies. At first the 
payment of these unreasonable customs was evaded by the merchants, 
and then the statute was openly set at naught. In 1750 it was further 
enacted that iron-works should -not be erected in America. The man¬ 
ufacture of steel was specially forbidden ; and the felling of pines, outside 
of enclosures, was interdicted. All of these laws were disregarded and 
denounced by the people of the colonies as being unjust and tyrannical. 
In 1761 a strenuous effort was made by the ministry to enforce the Im¬ 
portation Act, The colonial courts were authorized to issue to the king’s 
officers a kind of search-warrants, called Writs of Assistance. Armed 
with this authority, petty constables might enter any and every place, 
searching for and seizing goods which were suspected of having evaded 
the duty. At Salem and Boston the greatest excitement prevailed. The 
application for the writs was resisted before the courts. James Otis, an 


250 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


able and temperate man, pleaded eloquently for colonial rights, and de¬ 
nounced the parliamentary acts as unconstitutional. The address was a 
masterly defence of the people, and produced a profound sensation through¬ 
out the colonies. Already there were hints at resistance by force of arms. 

9. In 1763, and again in the following year, the English ministers 
undertook to enforce the law requiring the payment of duties on sugar 
and molasses. The officers of the admiralty were authorized to seize and 
confiscate all vessels engaged in the unlawful trade. Before the passage 
of this act was known at Boston, a great town-meeting was held. Samuel 
Adams was the orator. A powerful argument was produced showing 
conclusively that under the British constitution taxation and representa¬ 
tion were inseparable. Nevertheless, vessels from the English navy were 
sent to hover around the American harbors. A great number of mer¬ 
chantmen bearing cargoes of sugar and wine were seized; and the colonial 
trade with the West Indies was almost destroyed. 

10. The year 1764 witnessed the first formal declaration of the purpose 
of Parliament to tax the colonies. Mr. Grenville was now prime minis¬ 
ter. On the 10th of March a resolution was adopted by the House of 
Commons declaring that it would be proper to charge certain stamp- 
duties on the American colonies. It was announced that a bill embody¬ 
ing this principle would be prepared by the ministers and presented at 
the next session of Parliament. In the mean time, the news of the pro¬ 
posed measure was borne to America. Universal excitement and indig¬ 
nation prevailed in the colonies. Political meetings became the order of 
the day. Orators were in great demand. The newspapers teemed with 
arguments against the proposed enactment. Evolutions were passed by 
the people of almost every town. Formal remonstrances were addressed 
to the king and the two houses of Parliament. Agents were appointed 
by the colonies and sent to London in the hope of preventing the passage 
of the law. 

11. A new turn was now given to the controversy. The French and 
Indian War had just been concluded with a treaty of peace. Great 
Britain had incurred a heavy debt. The ministers began to urge that the 
expenses of the war ought to be borne by the colonies. The Americans 
replied that England ought to defend her colonies, from motives of 
humanity; that in the prosecution of the war the colonists had aided 
Great Britain as much as Great Britain had aided them; that the cession 
of Canada had amply remunerated England for her losses; that it was 
not the payment of money which the colonies dreaded, but the surrender 
of their liberties. It was also added that in case of another war the 
American States would try to fight their own battles. 


CAUSES. 


251 


12. Early in March of 1765, the English Parliament, no longer guided 
bv the counsels of Pitt, passed the celebrated Stamp Act. In the House 
of Commons the measure received a majority of five to one. In the 
House of Lords the vote was unanimous. At the time of the passage of 
the act the king was in a fit of insanity, and could not sign the bill. On 
the 22d of the month the royal assent was given by a board of commis¬ 
sioners acting for the king. “ The sun of American liberty has set,” 
wrote Benjamin Franklin to a friend at home. “Now we must light the 
lamps of industry and economy.” “ Be assured/’ said the friend, in reply, 
“ that we shall light torches of another sort.” And the answer reflected 
the sentiment of the whole country. 

13. The provisions of the Stamp Act were briefly these: Every note, 
bond, deed, mortgage, lease, license and legal document of whatever sort, 
required in the colonies, should, after the 1st day of the following No¬ 
vember, be executed on paper bearing an English stamp. This stamped 
paper was to be furnished by the British government; and for each sheet 
the colonists were required to pay a sum varying, according to the nature 
of the document, from three pence to six pounds sterling. Every colonial 
pamphlet, almanac and newspaper was required to be printed on paper 
of the same sort, the value of the stamps in this case ranging from a half¬ 
penny to four pence; every advertisement was taxed two shillings. No 
contract should be of any binding force unless written on paper bearing 
the royal stamp. 

14. The news of the hateful act swept over America like a thunder¬ 
cloud. The people were at first grief-stricken; then indignant; and then 
wrathful. Crowds of excited men surged into the towns, and there were 
some acts of violence. The muffled bells of Philadelphia and Boston 
rung a funeral peal; and the people said it was the death-knell of liberty. 
In New York a copy of the Stamp Act was carried through the streets 
with a death’s-head nailed to it, and a placard bearing this inscription: 
The Folly of England and the Ruin of America. The general 
assemblies were at first slow to move; there were many loyalists among 
the members; and the colonial governors held their offices by appointment 
of the king. It was hazardous for a provincial legislator to say that an 
act of the British Parliament was the act of tyrants. But the younger 
representatives, hot-blooded as well as patriotic, did not hesitate to ex¬ 
press their sentiments. In the Virginia House of Burgesses there was a 
memorable scene. 

15. Patrick Henry, the youngest member of the House, an uneducated 
mountaineer recently chosen to represent Louisa county, waited, for some 
older delegate to lead the burgesses in opposition to Parliament. But the 


252 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

older members hesitated or went home. Offended at this lukewarmness, 
Henry in his passionate way snatched a blank-leaf out of an old law¬ 
book and hastily drew up a series of fiery resolutions, declaring that the 

Virginians were Eng¬ 
lishmen with English 
rights ; that the people 
of Great Britain had 
the exclusive privilege 
of voting their own 
taxes, and so had the 
Americans; that the 
colonists were not 
bound to yield obedi¬ 
ence to any law im¬ 
posing taxation on 
them; and that who¬ 
ever said the contrary 
was an enemy to the 
country. The resolu¬ 
tions were at once laid 
before the house. 

16. A violent de¬ 
bate ensued, in which 
the patriots had the 
best of the argument. 

PATRICK HENRY. 0 

It was a moment of 
intense interest. Two 

future Presidents of the United States were in the audience; Washington 
occupied his seat as a delegate, and Thomas Jefferson, a young collegian, 
stood just outside of the railing. The eloquent and audacious Henry 
bore down all opposition. “ Tarquin and Caesar had each his Brutus,” 
said the indignant orator; “Charles I. had his Cromwell, and George 
III.—” “ Treason!” shouted the speaker. “ Treason! treason!” exclaimed 
the terrified loyalists, springing to their feet. “ —And George III. may 
profit by their example,” continued Henry; and then added as he took 
his seat, “ If that be treason, make the most of it!” The resolutions were 
put to the house and carried; but the majorities on some of the votes were 
small, and the next day, when Henry was absent, the most violent par¬ 
agraph was reconsidered and expunged: some of the members were 
greatly frightened at their own audacity. But the resolutions in their 
entire form had gone before the country as the formal expression of the 




CAUSES. 


253 


oldest American commonwealth, and the effect on the other colonies was 
like the shock of a battery. 

17. Similar resolutions were adopted by the assemblies of New York 
and Massachusetts—in the latter State before the action of Virginia was 
known. At Boston, James Otis successfully agitated the question of an 
American Congress. It was proposed that each colony, acting without 
leave of the king, should appoint delegates, who should meet in the fol¬ 
lowing autumn and discuss the affairs of the nation. The proposition was 
favorably received; nine of the colonies appointed delegates; and on the 
7th of October the First Colonial Congress assembled at New York. 
There were twenty-eight representatives : Timothy Buggies of Massachu¬ 
setts was chosen president. After much discussion a Declaration of 
Rights was adopted setting forth in unmistakable terms that the Amer¬ 
ican colonists, as Englishmen, could not and would not consent to be 
taxed but by their own representatives. Memorials were also prepared 
and addressed to the two houses of Parliament. A manly petition, pro¬ 
fessing loyalty and praying for a more just and humane policy toward 
his American subjects, was directed to the king. 

18. The 1st of November came. On that day the Stamp Act was to 
take effect. During the summer great quantities of the stamped paper 
had been prepared and sent to America. Ten boxes of it were seized by 
the people of New York and openly destroyed. In Connecticut, the 
stamp-officer was threatened with hanging. In Boston, houses were de¬ 
stroyed and the stamps given to the winds and flames. Whole cargoes 
of the obnoxious paper were reshipped to England; and every stamp- 
officer in America was obliged to resign or leave the country. By the 
1st of November there were scarcely stamps enough remaining to furnish 
after times with specimens. The day was kept as a day of mourning. 
The stores were closed; flags were hung at half mast; the bells were 
tolled; effigies of the authors and abettors of the Stamp Act were borne 
about in mockery, and then burned. The people of New Hampshire 
formed a funeral procession and buried a coffin bearing the inscription of 
Liberty. A cartoon was circulated hinting at union as the remedy for 
existing evils. The picture represented a snake broken into sections. 
Each joint was labeled with the initials of a colony; the head was marked 
“ N. E.” for New England; and the title was Join or Die ! 

19. At first, legal business was almost entirely suspended. The court¬ 
houses were shut up. Society was at a standstill; not even a marriage 
license could be legally issued. Bv and by, the people breathed more 
freely ; the offices were opened, and business went on as before; but was 
not transacted with stamped paper. It was at this juncture that the 




254 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


patriotic society known as the Sons of Liberty was organized. The 
members were pledged to oppose British tyranny to the utmost, and to 
defend with their lives the freedom of the colonies. Equally important 
was the action of the colonial merchants. The importers of New York, 
Boston and Philadelphia entered into a solemn compact to purchase no 
more goods of Great Britain until the Stamp Act should be repealed. 
And the people, applauding the action of their merchants, cheerfully de¬ 
nied themselves of all imported luxuries. 

20. Great was the wrath of the British government when the news of 
these proceedings was borne across the ocean. But a large party of Eng¬ 
lish tradesmen and manufacturers sided with the colonists. Better still, 
some of the most eminent statesmen espoused the cause of America. Even 
Lord Camden in the House of Lords spoke favorably of colonial rights. 
Before the House of Commons Mr. Pitt delivered a powerful address. 
“ You have,” said he, “no right to tax America. I rejoice that America 
has resisted. Three millions of our fellow-subjects so lost to every sense 
of virtue as tamely to give up their liberties would be fit instruments to 
make slaves of the rest.” The new Whig prime minister, the marquis 
of Bockingham, was also a friend of the colonies, and looked with dis¬ 
favor on the legislation of his predecessor. On the 18th of March, 1766, 
the Stamp Act was formally repealed. As a kind of balm to soothe the 
wounded feelings of the Tories—as the adherents of Grenville were now 
called—a supplemental resolution was added to the repeal declaring that 
Parliament had the right to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever. 

21. The joy both in England and America was unbounded. The 
vessels in the river Thames were decked with flags, and the colonial 
orators spoke to enthusiastic crowds gathered around bonfires. There was 
a great calm in all the country; but it was only the lull before the com¬ 
ing of a greater storm. A few months after the repeal of the Stamp Act 
the ministry of Rockingham was dissolved and a new cabinet formed 
under the leadership of Pitt, who was now made earl of Chatham. Un¬ 
fortunately, however, the prime minister was for a long time confined by 
sickness to his home in the country. During his absence, Mr. Towns- 
hend, chancellor of the exchequer, in a moment of unparalleled folly, 
brought forward a new scheme for taxing America. On the 29th of June, 
1767, an act was passed imposing a duty on all the glass, paper, painters’ 
colors and tea which should thereafter be imported into the colonies. 
At the same time a resolution was adopted suspending the powers of the 
general assembly of New York untiLthat body should vote certain sup¬ 
plies for the royal troops stationed in the province. A more rash and 
disastrous piece of legislation never was enacted. 
















































































1775 

70 

77 

78 

79 

80 

81 

Louis 

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British evac 

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' 










. 


















CA USES. 


255 


22. All the smothered resentment of the colonies burst out anew. 
Another agreement not to purchase British goods was immediately en¬ 
tered into by the American merchants. The newspapers were fdled with 
bitter denunciations of Parliament. Early in 1768 the assembly of Mas¬ 
sachusetts adopted a circular calling upon the other colonies for assistance 
in the effort to obtain redress of grievances. The ministers were enraged 
and required the assembly in the king’s name to rescind their action, and 
to express regret for that “ rash and hasty proceeding.” Instead of that, 
the sturdy legislature reaffirmed the resolution by a nearly unanimous 
vote. Thereupon Governor Bernard dissolved the assembly; but the 
members would not disperse until they had prepared a list of charges 
against the governor and requested the king to remove him. 

23. In the month of June fuel was added to the flame. A sloop, 
charged with attempting to evade the payment of duty, was seized by the 
custom-house officers. The people rose in a mob; attacked the houses 
of the officers, and obliged the occupants to seek shelter in Castle William, 
at the entrance of the harbor. The governor now appealed to the min¬ 
isters for help; and General Gage, commander-in-chief of the British 
forces in America, was ordered to bring from Halifax a regiment of reg¬ 
ulars and overawe the people. On the 1st of October the troops, seven 
hundred strong, marched with fixed bayonets into the capital of Mas¬ 
sachusetts. The people were maddened by this military invasion of their 
city. When the governor required the selectmen of Boston to provide 
quarters for the soldiers, he was met with an absolute refusal; and the 
troops were quartered in the state-house. 

24. In February of 1769, Parliament advanced another step toward 
war. The people of Massachusetts were declared rebels, and the governor 
was directed to arrest those deemed guilty of treason and send them to 
England for trial. The general assembly met this additional outrage 
with defiant resolutions. Scenes almost as violent as these were at the 
same time enacted in Virginia and North Carolina. In the latter State 
a popular insurrection was suppressed by Governor Tryon; the insur¬ 
gents, escaping across the mountains, obtained lands of the Cherokees, and 
became the founders of Tennessee. 

25. Early in 1770 a serious affray occurred in New York. The 
soldiers wantonly cut down a liberty pole which had stood for several 
years in the park. A conflict ensued, in which the people came out best; 
another pole was erected in the northern part of the city. On the 5th 
of March a more serious difficulty occurred in Boston. An altercation 
had taken place between a party of citizens and the soldiers. A crowd 
gathered, surrounded Captain Preston’s company of the city guard, hooted 

17 


256 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


at them, and dared them to fire. At length the exasperated soldiers dis¬ 
charged a volley, killing three of the citizens and wounding several others. 
This outrage, known as the Boston Massacre, created a profound sensa¬ 
tion. The city was ablaze with excitement. Several thousand men 
assembled under arms. Governor Hutchinson came out, promising that 
justice should be done and trying to appease the multitude. The brave 
Samuel Adams spoke for the people. An immediate withdrawal of the 
troops from the city was demanded, and the governor was obliged to 
yield. Captain Preston and his company were arrested and tried for 
murder. The prosecution was conducted with great spirit, and two of 
the offenders were convicted of manslaughter. 

26. On the very day of the Boston massacre, Lord North, who had 
become prime minister, secured the passage by Parliament of an act re¬ 
pealing all the duties on American imports except that on tea. The 
exception was made only to show that the right of taxing the colonies 
was not relinquished. The merchants of New York and Boston at once 
relaxed their non-importation agreement except so far as it related to tea; 
to that extent the compact was retained; and the people voluntarily 
pledged themselves to use no more tea until the duty should be uncon¬ 
ditionally repealed. The antagonism toward the mother country was 
abating somewhat, when in 1772 an act was passed by Parliament requir¬ 
ing that the salaries of the governor and judges of Massachusetts should 
be paid out of the colonial revenues without consent of the assembly. 
That body retaliated by a declaration that the parliamentary statute was 
a violation of the chartered rights of the people, and therefore void. 
About the same time the Gaspee, a royal schooner which had been annoy¬ 
ing the people of Providence, was boarded by a company of patriots and 
burned. 

27. In 1773 the ministers attempted to enforce the tea-tax by a strat¬ 
agem. Owing to the duty, the price of tea in the American market had 
been doubled. But there was no demand for the article; for the people 
would not buy. As a consequence the warehouses of Great Britain were 
stored with vast quantities of tea, awaiting shipment to America. Par¬ 
liament now removed the export duty which had hitherto been charged 
on tea shipped from England. The price was by so much lowered; and 
the ministers persuaded themselves that, when the cheaper tea was offered 
in America, the silly colonists would pay their own import duty without 
suspicion or complaint. 

28. To carry out this scheme English ships were loaded with tea for 
the American market. Some of the vessels reached Charleston ; the tea 
was landed, but the people forbade its sale. The chests were stored in 


CAUSES. 


257 


mouldy cellars, and the contents ruined. At New York and Philadelphia 
the ports were closed and the ships forbidden to enter. At Boston the 
\essels entered the harbor, I he tea had been consigned to Governor Hut¬ 
chinson and his friends; and special precautions were taken to prevent a 
failure of the enterprise. But the authorities stubbornly stood their 
ground, and would not permit the tea to be landed. On the 16th of De¬ 
cember the dispute was settled in a memorable manner. There was a great 
town-meeting at which seven thousand people were assembled, Adams 
and Quincy spoke to 
the multitudes. Eve¬ 



ning came on, and the 
meeting was about to 
adjourn, when a war- 
whoop was heard, and 
about fifty men dis¬ 
guised as Indians pass¬ 
ed the door of the Old 
South Church. The 
c r o w d followed to 
Griffin’s wharf, where 
the three tea-ships 
were at anchor. Then 
every th ing became 
quiet. The disguised 
men quickly boarded 
the vessels, broke open 
the three hundred and 
forty chests of tea that 
composed the cargoes, 
and poured the con¬ 
tents into the sea. 

Such was tiie Boston Tea-Party. 

29. Parliament made haste to find revenge. On the last day of March, 
1774, the Boston Port Bill was passed. It was enacted that no 
kind of merchandise should any longer be landed or shipped at the 
wharves of Boston. The custom-house was removed to Salem, but the 
people of that town refused the benefits which were proffered by the hand 
of tyranny. The inhabitants of Marblehead tendered the free use of 
their warehouses to the merchants of Boston. The assembly stood stoutly 
by the cause of the people. When the news of the passage of the Port 
Bill reached Virginia, the burgesses at once entered a protest on the 



258 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


journals of the house. When Governor Dunmore ordered the members 
to their homes, they met in another place, and passed a recommendation 
for a general congress of the colonies. On the 20th of May the vener¬ 
ated charter of Massachusetts was annulled by act of Parliament. The 
people were declared rebels; and the governor was ordered to send 
abroad for trial all persons who should resist the royal officers. The 
colonial assembly made answer by adopting a resolution that the powers 
of language were not sufficient to express the impolicy, injustice, in¬ 
humanity and cruelty of the acts of Parliament. 

30. In September the Second Colonial Congress assembled at 
Philadelphia. Eleven colonies were represented. It was unanimously 
agreed to sustain Massachusetts in her conflict with a wicked ministry. 
One address was sent to the king; another to the English nation; and 
another to the people of Canada. Before adjournment a resolution was 
adopted recommending the suspension of all commercial intercourse with 
Great Britain until the wrongs of the colonies should be redressed. Par¬ 
liament immediately retaliated by ordering General Gage, who had been 
recently appointed governor of Massachusetts, to reduce the colonists by 
force. A fleet and an army of ten thousand soldiers were sent to America 
to aid in the work of subjugation. 

31. In accordance with the governor’s orders, Boston Neck was seized 
and fortified. The military stores in the arsenals at Cambridge and 
Charlestown were conveyed to Boston; and the general assembly was 
ordered to disband. Instead of doing so, the members resolved them¬ 
selves into a provincial congress, and voted to equip an army of twelve 
thousand men for the defence of the colony. There was no longer any 
hope of a peaceable adjustment. The mighty arm of Great Britain was 
stretched out to smite and crush the sons of the Pilgrims. The colonists 
were few and feeble; but they were men of iron wills who had made up 
their minds to die for liberty. It was now the early spring of 1775, and 
the day of battle was at hand. 


THE BEGINNING. 


259 


CHAPTER II. 

THE BEGINNING. 

A S soon as the intentions of General Gage were manifest, the people 
of Boston, concealing their ammunition in cart-loads of rubbish, 
conveyed it to Concord, sixteen miles away. Gage detected the move¬ 
ment, and on the night of the 18th of April despatched a regiment of 
eight hundred men to destroy the stores. Another purpose of the expe¬ 
dition was to capture John Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were sup¬ 
posed to be hidden at Lexington or Concord. The fact was that they 
were not hidden anywhere, but were abroad encouraging the people. 
The plan of the British general was made with great secrecy; but the 
patriots were on the alert, and discovered the movement. 

2. About midnight the regiment, under command of Colonel Smith 
and Major Pitcairn, set out for Concord. The people of Boston, Charles¬ 
town and Cambridge were roused by the ringing of bells and the firing 
of cannons. Two hours before, the vigilant Joseph Warren had de¬ 
spatched William Dawes and Paul Revere to ride with all speed to Lex¬ 
ington and to spread the alarm through the country. Against two o’clock 
in the morning the minute-men were under arms; and a company of a 
hundred and thirty had assembled on the common at Lexington. The 
patriots loaded their guns and stood ready; but no enemy appeared, and 
it was agreed to separate until the drum-beat should announce the hour 
of danger. At five o’clock the British van, under command of Pitcairn, 
came in sight. The provincials to the number of seventy reassembled; 
Captain Parker was their leader. Pitcairn rode up and exclaimed: 
“ Disperse, ye villains! Throw down your arms, ye rebels, and disv 
perse!” The minute-men stood still; Pitcairn discharged his pistol at 
them, and with a loud voice cried, “ Fire!” The first volley of the 
Revolution whistled through the air, and sixteen of the patriots, nearly a 
fourth of the whole number, fell dead or wounded. The rest fired a few 
random shots, and then dispersed. 

3. The British pressed on to Concord ; but the inhabitants had re¬ 
moved the greater part of the stores to a place of safety, and there was 
but little destruction. Two cannons were spiked, some artillery carriages 


260 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


burned, and a small quantity of ammunition thrown into a mill-pond. 
While the British were ransacking the town the minute-men began to 
assemble from all quarters. Attempting to enter the village, the patriots 
encountered a company of soldiers who were guarding the North Bridge, 
over Concord River. Here the Americans, for the first time, fired under 
orders of their officers, and here two British soldiers were killed. The 
bridge was taken by the provincials, and the enemy began a retreat—first 
into the town, and then through the town on the road to Lexington. 
This was the signal for the minute-men to attack the foe from every side. 
For six miles the battle was kept up along the road. Hidden behind 
rocks, trees, fences and barns, the patriots poured a constant fire upon the 
thinned ranks of the retreating enemy. Nothing but good discipline and 
reinforcements which, under command of Lord Percy, met the fugitives 
just below Lexington, saved the British from total rout and destruction. 
The fight continued to the precincts of Charlestown, the militia becoming 
more and more audacious in their charges. At one time it seemed that 
the whole British force would be obliged to surrender. Sueh a result 
was prevented only by the fear that the fleet would burn the city. The 
American loss in this the first battle of the war was forty-nine killed, 
thirty-four wounded and five missing; that of the enemy was two hundred 
and seventy-three—a greater loss than the English army sustained on the 
Plains of Abraham. 

4. The battle of Lexington fired the country. Within a few days an 
army of twenty thousand men had gathered about Boston. A line of 
entrenchments encompassing the city was drawn from Roxbury to Chel¬ 
sea. To drive Gage and the British into the sea was the common talk 
in that tumultuous camp. And the number constantly increased. John 
Stark came down at the head of the New Hampshire militia. Israel 
Putnam, with a leather waistcoat on, was helping some men to build a 
stone wall on his farm when the news from Lexington came flying. 
Hurrying to the nearest town, he found the militia already mustered. 
Bidding the men follow as soon as possible, he mounted a horse and rode 
to Cambridge, a distance of a hundred miles, in eighteen hours. Rhode 
Island sent her quota under the brave Nathaniel Greene. Benedict 
Arnold came with the provincials of New Haven. Ethan Allen, of 
Vermont, made war in the other direction. 

5. This daring and eccentric man was chosen colonel by a company of 
two hundred and seventy patriots who had assembled at Bennington. 
Before the battle of Lexington, the legislature of Connecticut had pri¬ 
vately voted a thousand dollars to encourage an expedition against Ticon- 
deroga. To capture this important fortress, with its vast magazine of 


TIIE BEGINNING. 


261 


stores was the object of Allen and the audacious mountaineers of whom he 
was the leader. Benedict Arnold left Cambridge, and joined the expe¬ 
dition as a private. On the evening of the 9th of May, the force, whose 
movements had not been discovered, reached the eastern shore of Lake 
Champlain, opposite Ticonderoga. 

6. Only a few boats could be procured; and when day broke on the 
tol lowing morning, but eighty-three men had succeeded in crossing. With 
this mere handful—for the rest could not be waited for—Allen, with 
Arnold by his side, made a dash, and gained the gateway of the fort. 
The sentinel was driven in, closely followed by the mountaineers, who set 
up such a shout as few garrisons had ever heard. Allen’s men hastily 
faced the barracks and stood ready to fire; he himself rushed to the 
quarters of Delaplace, the commandant, and shouted for the incumbent to 
get up. The startled official thrust out his head. “ Surrender this fort 
instantly,” said Allen. “ By what authority ?” inquired the astounded 
officer. “ In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Con¬ 
gress !” * said Allen, flourishing his sword. Delaplace had no alternative. 
The garrison, numbering forty-eight, were made prisoners and sent to 
Connecticut. A fortress which had cost Great Britain eight million 
pounds sterling was captured in ten minutes by a company of undiscip¬ 
lined provincials. By this daring exploit a hundred and twenty cannon 
and vast quantities of military stores fell into the hands of the Americans. 
Two days afterward Crown Point was also taken without the loss of life. 

7. On the 25th of May, Generals Howe, Clinton and Burgoyne arrived 
at Boston. They brought with them powerful reinforcements from Eng¬ 
land and Ireland ; the British army was augmented to more than ten thou¬ 
sand men. Gage, becoming arrogant, issued a proclamation, branding 
those in arms as rebels and traitors, offering pardon to all who would 
submit, but excepting Samuel Adams and John Hancock; these two were 
to suffer the penalty of treason—provided Gage could inflict it. It was now 
rumored—and the rumor was well founded—that the British were about 
to sally out of Boston with the purpose of burning the neighboring towns 
and devastating the country. The Americans determined to anticipate 
this movement by seizing and fortifying Bunker Hill, a height which 
commanded the peninsula of Charlestown. 

8. On the night of the 16th of June the brave Colonel Prescott, 
grandfather of Prescott the historian, was sent with a thousand men to 
occupy and entrench the hill. Marching by way of Charlestown Neck, 

* This saying will appear especially amusing when it is remembered that the “Conti¬ 
nental Congress” referred to did not convene until about six hours after Ticonderoga was 
captured. 


262 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


the provincials came about eleven o’clock to the eminence which they 
were instructed to fortify. Prescott and his engineer Grid ley, not liking 
the position of Bunker Hill, proceeded down the peninsula seven hundred 
yards to another height, afterward called Breed’s Hill. The latter was 
within easy cannon range of Boston. On this summit a redoubt eight 
rods square was planned by the engineer; and there, from midnight to 
day-dawn, the men worked in silence. The British ships in the harbor 
were so near that the Americans could hear the sentinels on deck repeat¬ 
ing the night call, “ All is well.” The works were not yet completed 
when morning revealed the new-made redoubt to the astonished British 
of Boston. 

9. “ We must carry those works immediately,” said General Gage to 
his officers. For he saw that Prescott’s cannon now commanded the city. 

As soon as it was light, the ships in 
the harbor began to cannonade the 
American position. The British bat¬ 
teries on Copp’s Hill also opened a 
heavy fire. But little damage was 
done in this way; and the Americans 
returned only an occasional shot; for 
their supply of ammunition was very 
limited. Just after noon a British 
column of about three thousand vet¬ 
erans, commanded by Generals Howe 
and Pigot, landed at Morton’s Point. 
The plan was to carry Breed’s Hill 
by assault. The Americans num¬ 
bered in all about fifteen hundred. They were worn out with toil and 
hunger; but there was no quailing in the presence of the enemy. During 
the cannonade Prescott climbed out of the defences and walked leisurely 
around the parapet in full view of the British officers. Generals Putnam 
and Warren volunteered as privates, and entered the trenches. At three 
o’clock in the afternoon Howe ordered his column forward. At the same 
time every gun in the fleet and batteries was turned upon the American 
position. Charlestown was wantonly set on fire and four hundred build¬ 
ings burned. Thousands of eager spectators climbed to the house-tops 
in Boston and waited to behold the shock of battle. On came the British 
in a stately and imposing column. 

10. The Americans reserved their fire until the advancing line was 
within a hundred and fifty feet. “Fire!” cried Prescott; and instantly 
from breastwork and redoubt every gun was discharged. The front rank 





THE BEGINNING . 


263 


of the British melted away; there was a recoil, and fifteen minutes after¬ 
ward a precipitate retreat. Beyond musket range Howe rallied his men 
and led them to the second charge. Again the American fire was with¬ 
held until the enemy was but a few rods distant. Then with steady aim 
volley after volley was poured upon the charging column until it was 
broken and a second time driven into flight. 

11. The British officers were now desperate. The vessels of the fleet 
changed position until the guns were brought to bear upon the inside of 
the American works. For the third time the assaulting column was put 
in motion. The British soldiers came on with fixed bayonets up the 
hillside strewn with the dead and dying. The Americans had but three 
or four rounds of ammunition remaining. These were expended on the 
advancing enemy. Then there was a lull. The British clambered over 
the ramparts. The provincials clubbed their guns and hurled stones at 
the assailants. It was in vain; the heroic defenders of liberty were driven 
out of their trenches at the point of the bayonet. Prescott lived through 
the battle, but the brave Warren gave his life for freedom. The loss of 
the British in this terrible engagement was a thousand and fifty-four in 
killed and wounded. The Americans lost a hundred and fifteen killed, 
three hundred and five wounded, and thirty-two prisoners. Prescott and 
Putnam conducted the retreat by way of Charlestown Neck to Prospect 
Hill, where a new line of entrenchments was formed which still com¬ 
manded the entrance to Boston. 

12. The battle of Bunker Hill rather inspired than discouraged the 
colonists. It was seen that the British soldiers were not invincible. To 
capture a few more hills would cost General Gage his whole army. The 
enthusiasm of war spread throughout the country. The news was borne 
rapidly to the South, and a spirit of determined opposition was every¬ 
where aroused. The people began to speak of the United Colonies 
of America. At Charlotte, North Carolina, the citizens ran together ill 
a hasty convention, and startled the country by making a declaration of 
independence. The British ministers had little dreamed of raising such 
a storm. 

13. On the day of the capture of Ticonderoga the colonial Congress, 
which had adjourned in the previous autumn, reassembled at Philadelphia. 
Washington was there, and John Adams and Samuel Adams, Franklin 
and Patrick Henry; Jefferson came soon afterward. A last appeal was 
addressed to the king of England; and the infatuated monarch was plainly 
told that the colonists had chosen war in preference to voluntary slavery. 
Early in the session John Adams made a powerful address, in the course 
of which he sketched the condition and wants of the country and of the 


264 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


army. The necessity of appointing a commander-in-chief and the qual¬ 
ities requisite in that high officer were dwelt upon; and then the speaker 
concluded by putting in nomination George Washington of Virginia. As 
soon as his name was mentioned, Washington arose and withdrew from 
the hall. For a moment he was overpowered with a sense of the respon¬ 
sibility which was about to be put upon him, and to his friend Patrick 
Henry he said with tears in his eyes: u I fear that this day will mark the 
downfall of my reputation.” On the 15th of June the nomination was 
unanimously confirmed by Congress; and the man who had saved the 
wreck of Braddock’s army was called to build a nation. 

14. George Washington, descended from the distinguished family 
of the Wessyngtons in England, was born in Westmoreland county, 
Virginia, on the 11th of February (Old Style), 1732. At the age of 
eleven he was left, by the death of his father, to the sole care of a talented 
and affectionate mother. His education was limited to the common 
branches of learning, extending only to geometry and trigonometry. Sur¬ 
veying was his favorite study. In his boyhood he was passionately fond 
of athletic sports and military exercises. As he grew to manhood he was 
marked above all his companions for the dignity of his manners, the 
soundness of his judgment and the excellence of his character. At the 
age of sixteen he was sent by his uncle to survey a tract of land on the 
South Potomac, and for three years his life was in the wilderness. On 
reaching his majority he was already more spoken of than any other 
young man in the colony. The important duties which he performed in 
the service of the Ohio Company, the beginning of his military career 
and his noted campaign with Braddock have already been narrated. After 
the French and Indian War he was a member of the Virginia House of 
Burgesses; was then chosen a member of the Continental Congress; and 
was now called by that body to control the destinies of the unorganized 
mass of men composing the American army. With great dignity he 
accepted the appointment, refused all compensation beyond his actual 
expenses, set out with an escort by way of New York, and reached Cam¬ 
bridge fifteen days after the battle of Bunker Hill. 

15. Washington’s duties and responsibilities were overwhelming. Con¬ 
gress had voted to raise and equip twenty thousand men, but the means 
of doing so were not furnished. The colonies had not yet broken their 
allegiance to the British Crown. For six months Congress stood waiting 
for the king’s answer to its address. The country was sound and patri¬ 
otic; but its methods of action were irregular and uncertain. Washington 
had a force of fourteen thousand five hundred men, but they were undis¬ 
ciplined and insubordinate. The revenues and supplies of war were 


THE BEGINNING. 


265 


almost wholly wanting. At the time of the battle of Bunker Hill the whole 
army had but twenty-seven half barrels of powder. The work of organ- . 
ization was at once begun. Four major-generals, one adjutant and eight 
brigadiers were appointed. The army was arranged in three divisions. 
The right wing, under General Ward, held Roxbury; the left, commanded 
by General Charles Lee, rested at Prospect Hill, near Charlestown Neck; 
the centre, under the immediate direction of the commander-in-chief, lay 
at Cambridge. Boston was regularly invested, and the siege was pressed 
with constantly increasing vigor. 

16. During the summer and autumn of 1775, the king’s authority was 
overthrown in all the colonies. The royal governors either espoused the 
cause of the people, were compelled to resign or were driven off in insur¬ 
rections. Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, seized the public powder. 
Patrick Henry led the people, and demanded restitution. The governor 
was overawed, and paid the value of the powder. Fearing further aggres¬ 
sion, he went on board a man-of-war, proclaimed freedom to the slaves, 
raised a force of loyalists, met the provincials at the village of Great 
Bridge near Norfolk, and was defeated. Obliged to retire from the coun¬ 
try, he gratified his vindictive disposition by burning Norfolk. 

17. The American colonies looked to Canada for sympathy and aid. 
It was believed that the Canadians would make common cause against 
Great Britain. In order to encourage such a movement and to secure 
possession of the Canadian government, an expedition was planned against 
the towns on the St. Lawrence. Generals Schuyler and Montgomery 
were placed in command of a division which was to proceed by way of 
Lake Champlain and the river Sorel to St. John and Montreal. The 
former fort was reached on the 10th of September, but the Americans, 
finding the place too strong to be carried by assault, fell back twelve miles 
to Isle-aux-Noix in the Sorel. This place General Schuyler fortified, 
and then returned to Ticonderoga for reinforcements. Sickness detained 
him there, and the whole command devolved on Montgomery. This 
gallant officer returned to St. John and captured the fortress. Fort 
Chambly, ten miles farther north, was also taken. Montreal was next 
invested, and on the 13th of November obliged to capitulate. 

18. Leaving garrisons in the conquered towns, Montgomery proceeded 
with his regiment, now reduced to three hundred men, against Quebec. 
This stronghold was already threatened from another quarter. Late in 
the autumn, Colonel Benedict Arnold set out with a thousand men from 
Cambridge, passed up the Kennebec and urged his way through the wil¬ 
derness to the Chaudiere, intending to descend that stream to Point Levi. 
The march was one of untold hardship and suffering. As winter came 


266 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


on the men were brought to the verge of starvation. The daring leader 
pressed on in the hope of gathering supplies from some unguarded French 
village. Before his return the famishing soldiers had killed and devoured 
every dog that could be found. Then the brave fellows gnawed the roots 
of trees and ate their moose-skin moccasins until Arnold’s return, when 
the whole force proceeded to Quebec. Morgan, Greene and Meigs, all 
three noted leaders of the Revolution, and Aaron Burr, one day to be¬ 
come Vice-President of the United States, were in this company of suf¬ 
fering heroes. 

19. Arnold and his men, climbing to the Plains of Abraham, as Wolfe 
had done sixteen years previously, offered battle. But the English gar¬ 
rison of Quebec remained in their fortifications awaiting an assault which 
the Americans were not strong enough to make. Conscious of his weak¬ 
ness, Arnold withdrew his men to Point aux Trembles, twenty miles up 
the river, and there awaited the approach of Montgomery. When the 
latter arrived, he assumed command of the whole force, which did not 
exceed nine hundred effective men. Quebec was defended by greatly 
superior numbers, well fortified and warmly quartered. For three weeks, 
with his handful of men, Montgomery besieged the town, and then, rely¬ 
ing only on the courageous valor of his men, determined to stake every¬ 
thing on an assault. 

20. It was the last day of December, 1775. Before daybreak the little 
army was divided into four columns. The first division, under Mont¬ 
gomery, was to pass down the St. Lawrence and attack the Lower Town 
in the neighborhood of the citadel. The second column, led by Arnold, 
was to sweep around the city to the north, attack by way of the St. 
Charles, and join Montgomery in order to storm the Prescott Gate. The 
other two divisions were to remain in the rear of the Upper Town, making 
feigned attacks to draw the attention of the garrison. Montgomery’s 
column reached the point from which the charge was to begin. A battery 
lay just before, and it was thought that the gunners had not discovered 
the assailants. “ Men of New York,” said the brave Montgomery, “you 
will not fear to follow where your general leads! Forward!” There 
were masses of ice and clouds of blinding snow, and broken ground and 
the cold gray light of morning. As the Americans were rushing forward, 
all of a sudden the battery burst forth with a storm of grape-shot. At 
the first discharge Montgomery and both of his aids fell dead. The 
column was shattered. The men were heartbroken at the death of their 
beloved general. They staggered a moment, then fell back, and returned 
to Wolfe’s Cove, above the city. 

21. Arnold, ignorant of what had happened, fought his wav into the 


THE WORK OF 76 . 


267 


Lower Town on the north. While leading the charge he was severely 
wounded and borne to the rear. Captain Morgan, who succeeded him, 
led his brave band farther and farther along the narrow and dangerous 
streets until he was overwhelmed and compelled to surrender. Arnold 
retired with his broken remnant to a point three miles above the city. 
Reinforcements soon began to arrive; but the smallpox broke out in the 
camp, and active operations could not be resumed. As soon as the ice dis¬ 
appeared from the St. Lawrence, Quebec was strengthened by the arrival 
of fresh troops from England. Governor Carleton now began offensive 
movements ; the Americans fell back from post to post, until, by the mid¬ 
dle of the following June, Canada was entirely evacuated. 

22. The worst calamity of the whole campaign was the death of Gen¬ 
eral Richard Montgomery. He was one of the noblest of the many noble 
men who gave their lives in the cause of American liberty. Born of an 
illustrious Irish family, he became a soldier in his boyhood. He had 
shared the toils and the triumph of Wolfe. To the enthusiasm of a warm 
and affectionate nature he joined the highest order of military talents and 
the virtues of an exalted character. Even in England his death was 
mentioned with sorrow. New York, his adopted State, claimed his body, 
brought his remains to her own metropolis and buried them with tears. 
To after times the Congress of the nation transmitted his fame by erecting 
a noble monument. 


CHAPTER III. 

THE WORK OF ’76. 

A T last came the king’s answer to the appeal of Congress. It was 
such an answer as George III. and his ministers always made to the 
petitioners for human rights. The colonies were insulted and spurned ; 
their petition was treated with contempt. The king of England did not 
know any such a body as the Continental Congress. The first thing 
necessary was to disband the army and to submit without conditions. 
Then the monarch would settle all questions with each colony separately. 
By this offensive and tyrannical answer the day of independence was 
brought nearer. 

2. Meanwhile, General Howe had succeeded Gage in command of the 



268 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


British troops in Boston. All winter long the city was besieged by 
Washington. By the middle of February the American army had in¬ 
creased to fourteen thousand men. The country became restless; and 
Congress urged the commander-in-chief to press the enemy with greater 
vigor. Washington, knowing the insufficiency of his supplies, and fear¬ 
ing the consequences of rashness more than the charge of inactivity, nar¬ 
rowed his lines, strengthened his works, and waited his opportunity. By 
the first day of spring, 1776, he felt himself strong enough to risk an 
assault; the officers of his staff thought otherwise, and a different plan 
was adopted. 

3. On the north, Boston was commanded by the peninsula of Charles¬ 
town ; on the south, by Dorchester Heights. Since the battle of Bunker 
Hill the former position had been held by the British; the latter was, as 
yet, unoccupied. Washington now resolved to take advantage of the 

enemy’s oversight, to seize the 
Heights and drive Howe out of 
Boston. A 

was prepared and put under com¬ 
mand of General Thomas. For two 
days the attention of the British was 
drawn by a constant fire from the 
American batteries. Then, on the 
night of the 4th of March, the de¬ 
tachment set out under cover of the 
darkness, passed over Dorchester 
Neck, and reached the Heights un¬ 
perceived. Through the night the 
Americans worked with an energy 
rarely equaled. The British, dis¬ 
tracted with the cannonade, noticed nothing unusual; and when morning 
dawned, they could hardly trust their senses. There was a line of for¬ 
midable entrenchments frowning upon the city; cannon were mounted, 
and the Americans in force. Howe saw at a glance that he must imme¬ 
diately carry the threatening redoubts or himself abandon Boston. En¬ 
raged at being outgeneraled, he ordered Lord Percy to select a column 
of two thousand four hundred men and storm the American works before 
nightfall. 

4. Percy put his men in order and proceeded as far as Castle Island, 
intending to make the assault in the afternoon. Washington visited the 
trenches and exhorted his men. It was the anniversary of the Boston 
Massacre, and the soldiers were eager to avenge the deaths of their coun¬ 


strong entrenching party 




THE WORK OF 76 . 


269 


try men. A battle was momentarily expected; but while Percy delayed, 
a violent storm arose and rendered the harbor impassable. It continued 
to blow for a whole day, and the attack could not be made. Before the 
following morning the Americans had so strengthened and extended their 
fortifications that all thoughts of an assault were abandoned. Howe 
found himself reduced to the humiliating extremity of giving up the 
capital of New England to the rebels. 

5. After some days there was an informal agreement between Washing¬ 
ton and the British general that the latter should be allowed to retire 
from Boston unmolested on condition that the city should not be burned. 
On the 17th of March the arrangement was consummated, and the whole 
British army went on board the fleet and sailed out of the harbor. Nearly 
fifteen hundred loyalists, fearing the vengeance of the patriots, left their 
homes and fortunes to escape with Howe. The American advance at 
once entered the city. On the 20th, Washington made a formal entry at 
the head of the triumphant army. The desolated town, escaping from 
the calamities of a ten months’ siege, broke forth in exultation. The 
exiled patriots returned by thousands to their homes. The country was 
wild with delight. From all quarters came votes of thanks and messages 
of encouragement. Congress ordered a gold medal to be struck in honor 
of Washington, victorious over an enemy “ for the first time put to flight.” 

6. The next care of the commander-in-chief was to strengthen the 
defences of Boston. That done, he repaired with the main division of 
the army to New York. It was not known to what part of the coast 
Howe would direct his course; and Washington feared that his antagonist 
might make a sudden descent in the neighborhood of Long Island. Gen¬ 
eral Lee pressed forward with the Connecticut militia, and reached New 
York just in time to baffle an attempt of Sir Henry Clinton, whose 
fleet arrived off Sandy Hook and threatened the city. Clinton next 
sailed southward, and on the 3d of May was joined by Sir Peter 
Parker, in command of another fleet, and Lord Cornwallis with two thou¬ 
sand five hundred men. The force was deemed sufficient for any enter¬ 
prise, and it was determined to capture Charleston. 

7. In the mean time, General Lee had reached the South, and was 
watching the movements of Clinton. The Carolinians rose in arms and 
flocked to Charleston. The city was fortified; and a fort, which com¬ 
manded the entrance to the harbor, was built on Sullivan’s Island. On 
the 4th of June the British squadron came in sight, and a strong detach¬ 
ment was landed on Long Island, a short distance east of Fort Sullivan. 
There was a delay until the 28th of the month; then the British fleet 
began a furious bombardment of the fortress, which was commanded by 


270 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Colonel Moultrie. Three men-of-war, attempting to pass the fort, were 
stranded. Clinton ordered a storming-party to wade the channel between 
Long Island and Sullivan’s Island and carry the works by assault; but 
the water was too deep to be forded, and Colonel Thompson, who was 
stationed with a company of riflemen on the opposite bank, drove the 
British back in confusion. For eight hours the vessels of the fleet poured 
a tempest of balls upon the fort; but the walls, built of the spongy pal¬ 
metto, were little injured. The four hundred militiamen who composed 
the garrison fought like veterans. The republican flag was shot away 
and thrown outside of the parapet; Sergeant Jasper leaped down from the 
wall, recovered the flag and set it in its place again. The fire from the 
fleet was returned with great spirit; and as evening drew on the British 
were obliged to retire with a loss of more than two hundred men. Lord 
Campbell, the royal governor of South Carolina, was killed, and Admiral 
Parker was severely wounded. The loss of the garrison amounted in 
killed and wounded to thirty-two. As soon as the British could repair 
their shattered fleet they abandoned the siege and set sail for New York. 
In honor of its brave defender the fort on Sullivan’s Island was named 
Fort Moultrie. 

8. During the summer Washington’s forces were augmented to about 
twenty-seven thousand men; but the terms of enlistment were constantly 
expiring; sickness prevailed in the camp; and the effective force was but 
little more than half as great as the aggregate. On the other hand, Great 
Britain was making the vastest preparations. By a treaty with some of 
the petty German States, seventeen thousand Hessian mercenaries were 
hired to fight against America. George III. was going to quell his re¬ 
volted provinces by turning loose upon them a brutal foreign soldiery. 
Twenty-five thousand additional English troops were levied; an immense 
squadron was fitted out to aid in the reduction of the colonies, and a 
million dollars were voted for the extraordinary expenses of the war 
department. 

9. By these measures the Americans were greatly exasperated. Until 
now it had been hoped that the difficulty with the mother country could 
be satisfactorily adjusted without breaking allegiance to the British Crown. 
The colonists had constantly claimed to be loyal subjects of Great Britain, 
demanding only the rights and liberties of Englishmen. Now the case 
seemed hopeless; and the sentiment of disloyalty spread with alarming 
rapidity. The people urged the general assemblies, and the general 
assemblies urged Congress, to a more decided assertion of sovereignty. 
The legislature of Virginia led the way by advising in outspoken terms a 
declaration of independence. Congress responded by recommending all 


THE WORK OF 76 . 


271 


the colonies to adopt such governments as might best conduce to the hap¬ 
piness and safety of the people. This action was taken early in May, and 
in the course of the following month nearly all the provinces complied 
with the recommendation. 

10. Finally, on the 7th of June, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia 
offered a resolution in Congress declaring that the United Colonies are, 
and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are 
absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all political 
connection between them and Great Britain is, and ought to be, dissolved. 
A long and exciting debate ensued. The sentiment of independence 
gained ground; but there was still strong opposition to the movement. 
After some days the final consideration of Lee’s resolution was postponed 
until the 1st of July. On the lltli of June a committee, consisting of 
five members, was appointed to prepare a more elaborate and formal dec¬ 
laration. Mr. Lee had been called home by sickness; and his colleague, 
Thomas Jefferson, was accordingly made chairman of the committee. The 
other members were John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin 
of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut and Robert R. Livingston 
of New York. The special work of preparing the paper was allotted to 
Jefferson and Adams; the latter deferred to the former, whose vigorous 
style of writing specially fitted him for the task. The great document 
was accordingly produced in Jefferson’s hand, with a few interlinings by 
Adams and Franklin. 

11. On the 1st of July, Lee’s resolution was taken up, and at the same 
time the committee’s report was laid before Congress. On the next day 
the original resolution was adopted. During the 3d, the formal declara¬ 
tion was debated with great spirit, and it became evident that the work 
of the committee would be accepted. The discussion was resumed on the 
morning of the 4th, and at two o’clock on the afternoon of that memorable 
day the Declaration of American Independence was adopted by 
a unanimous vote. 

12. All day long the old bellman of the State House had stood in the 
steeple ready to sound the note of freedom to the city and the nation. The 
hours went by; the gray-haired veteran in the belfry grew discouraged, and 
began to say : “ They will never do it—they will never do it.” Just then 
the lad who had been stationed below ran out arid exclaimed at the top of 
his voice, “ Ring! ring!” And the aged patriot did ring as he had never 
rung before. The multitudes that thronged the streets caught the signal 
and answered with shouts of exultation. Swift couriers bore the glad news 
throughout the land. Everywhere the declaration was received with 
enthusiastic applause. At Philadelphia the king’s arms were torn down 

18 


272 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


from the court-house and burned in the street. At Williamsburg, 
Charleston and Savannah there were bonfires and illuminations. At 
Boston the declaration was read in Faneuil Hall, while the cannon from 
Fort Hill and Dorchester shook the city of the Puritans. At New York 
the populace pulled down the leaden statue of George III. and cast it into 
bullets. Washington received the message with joy, and ordered the 
declaration to be read at the head of each brigade. Former suffering and 
future peril were alike forgotten in the general rejoicing. 

13. The leading principles of the Declaration of Independence are 
these: That all men are created equal; that all have a natural right to 
liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that human governments are insti¬ 
tuted for the sole purpose of securing the welfare of the people; that the 
people have a natural right to alter their government whenever it becomes 
destructive of liberty; that the government of George III. had become 
destructive of liberty; that the despotism of the king and his ministers 
could be shown by a long list of indisputable proofs—and the proofs are 
given; that time and again the colonies had humbly petitioned for a 
redress of grievances; that all their petitions had been spurned with 
derision and contempt; that the king’s irrational tyranny over his Amer¬ 
ican subjects was no longer endurable; that an appeal to the sword is pref¬ 
erable to slavery; and that, therefore, the United Colonies of America are, 
and of right ought to be, free and independent States. To the support 
of this sublime declaration of principles the members of the Continental 
Congress mutually pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred 
honor. 

14. On leaving Boston, General Howe sailed to Halifax. There he 
remained until the middle of June, when he embarked his forces and 
set sail for Sandy Hook. Early in July he landed a force of nine thou¬ 
sand men on Staten Island. Thither Clinton came from the unsuccess¬ 
ful siege of Charleston, and Admiral Howe, brother of General Howe, from 
England. The whole British force, now gathered in the vicinity of New 
York, amounted to fully thirty thousand men. Nearly half of them were 
the hated Hessians whom the king of Great Britain had hired at thirty- 
six dollars a head. Washington’s army was inferior in numbers, poorly 
equipped and imperfectly disciplined. 

15. There was some delay in military operations; for Lord Howe, the 
admiral, had been instructed to try conciliatory measures with the Amer¬ 
icans. First, he sent to the American camp an officer witli a despatch 
directed to George Washington, Esquire. Of course Washington refused 
to receive a communication which did not recognize his official position. 
In a short time Howe sent another message, addressed to George Wash- 


THE WORK OF 76 . 


273 


ington, etc., etc., etc.; and the bearer, who was Howe’s adjutant-general, 
insisted that and-so-jorth might be translated General of the American 
Army. Washington was the last man in the world to be caught with a 
subterfuge; and the adjutant was sent away. It was already well known 
that Howe’s authority extended only to granting pardons, and to unes¬ 
sential matters about which the Americans were no longer concerned. 
Washington therefore replied that since no offence had been committed 
no pardon was required; that the colonies were now independent, and 
would defend themselves against all aggression. 

16. Baffled in his efforts, Lord Howe and his brother determined to 
begin hostilities. On the 22d of August the British, to the number of 
ten thousand, landed on the south-western coast of Long Island, near the 
village of New Utrecht. The Americans, about eight thousand strong, 
commanded by Generals Sullivan and Stirling, were posted in the vicinity 
of Brooklyn. The advance of the British was planned with great skill. 
From Gravesend, where Howe’s forces were landed, there were three 
roads to Brooklyn; the British army was accordingly arranged in three 
divisions. The first column, commanded by General Grant, was to ad¬ 
vance by way of Utrecht and the Narrows. The second division, com¬ 
posed of the Hessians, under command of General Heister, was to proceed 
to Flatbush, and thence to Bedford and Brooklyn. The third and strong¬ 
est column, led by Clinton and Cornwallis, was to make a circuit to the 
right as far as Flat land, reach the 
Jamaica road, and pass by way of 
Bedford to the rear of the American 
left wing. All of the movements 
were executed with perfect ease and 
fatal precision. 

17. The advance from Gravesend 
began on the morning of the 27 th of 
August. Grant’s division proceeded 
as far as the hill now embraced in 
Greenwood Cemetery, where he met 
General Stirling with fifteen hundred 
men; and the battle at once began. 

But in this part of the field there was 
no decisive result. Heister, in com¬ 
mand of the British centre, advanced 
beyond Flatbush, and engaged the main body of the Americans, under 
General Sullivan. Here the battle began with a brisk cannonade, in 
which the Hessians gained little or no ground until Sullivan was suddenly 







274 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


alarmed by the noise of battle on his left and rear, and the battalions of 
Clinton came rushing on the field. 

18. For General Putnam, who had come over and taken command of 
the entire force of the island, had, neglectful of Washington’s orders, 
failed to guard the passes on the left of the American army. During the 
previous night Clinton had occupied the heights above the Jamaica road, 
and now his force came down, unopposed and unperceived, by way of 
Bedford. Sullivan found himself surrounded, cut off, hemmed in between 
the two divisions of Clinton and Heister. From that moment it was only 
a question as to what part of the army could be saved from destruction. 
The men fought desperately, and many broke through the closing lines of 
the British. The rest were scattered, killed or taken prisoners. 

19. Cornwallis’s division pressed on to cut off the retreat of Stirling. 
At first the British were repulsed, and Stirling began his retreat toward 
Brooklyn. At Gowanus Creek a number of his men were drowned and 
many others captured; the rest reached the American lines in safety. 
Before the battle was ended Washington arrived on the field, and his 
soul was wrung with anguish at the sight. At first his army seemed 
ruined; but his resolute and tranquil spirit rose above the disasters of the 
battle. Generals Stirling, Sullivan and Woodhull were all prisoners in 
the hands of the enemy. Nearly a thousand patriot soldiers were killed, 
wounded or missing. It seemed an easy thing for Clinton and Howe to 
press on and capture all the rest. Yet in a few hours Washington 
brought together his shattered forces, reorganized his brigades and stood 
ready for an assault in the trenches back of Brooklyn. 

20. During the 28th, Howe, who was a sluggish, sensual man, ate 
pudding and waited for a fitter day. On the 29th there was a heavy 
fog over island and bay and river. Washington, clearly perceiving that 
he could not hold his position, and that his army was in great peril, re¬ 
solved to withdraw to New York. The enterprise was extremely hazard¬ 
ous, requiring secrecy, courage and despatch. By eight o’clock on that 
memorable night every boat and transport that could be obtained was 
lying at the Brooklyn ferry. There, under cover of the darkness, the 
embarkation began. Washington personally superintended every move¬ 
ment. All night with muffled oars the boatmen rowed silently back and 
forth, bearing the patriots to the northern side of the channel. At day¬ 
light on the following morning, just as the last boatload was leaving the 
wharf, the movement was discovered by the British. They rushed into 
the American entrenchments, and found nothing there except a few worth¬ 
less guns. After a severe battle which had cost him nearly four hundred 
men, Howe had gained possession of Long Island—and nothing more. 


THE WORK OF 76. 


275 


General Greene, who was a competent judge, declared that Washington’s 
retreat was the most masterly he ever read or heard of. 

21. The defeat on Long Island was very disastrous to the American 
cause. The army was dispirited. As fast as their terms of enlistment 
expired the troops returned to their homes. Desertions became alarm¬ 
ingly frequent; and it was only by constant exertion that Washington 
kept his army from disbanding. To add to the peril, the British fleet 
doubled Long Island and anchored within cannon-shot of New York. 
Washington, knowing himself unable to defend the city, called a council 
of war, and it was determined to retire to the Heights of Harlem. On 
the 15th of September the British landed in force on the east side of 
Manhattan Island, about three miles above New York. Thence they 
extended their lines across the island to the Hudson, and took possession 
of the city. It was in this juncture of affairs that Howe made overtures 
of peace to Congress. General Sullivan was paroled and sent to Philadel¬ 
phia as Howe’s agent; but Congress was in no mood to be conciliated. 
Franklin, on behalf of that body, wrote Howe a letter, telling him many 
unpalatable truths about what might henceforth be expected from the 
American colonies. 

22. On the next day after the British gained possession of New York, 
there was a skirmish between the advance parties of the two armies north 
of the city. The Americans gained a decided advantage, and the British 
were driven back with a loss of a hundred men. On the American side 
the loss included Colonel Knowlton and Major Leitch—two valuable 
officers—and nearly fifty privates. On the night of the 20th of'Septem¬ 
ber a fire broke out in New York and destroyed nearly five hundred 
buildings. On the 16th of October, while the Americans were still in 
their entrenchments above the city, Howe embarked his forces, passed 
into Long Island Sound and landed in the vicinity of Westchester. The 
object was to get upon the American left flank and cut off communica¬ 
tions with the Eastern States. Washington, ever on the alert, detected 
the movement, put his army in motion and faced the British east of Har¬ 
lem River. For some days the two generals manoeuvred, and on the 
28th a battle was brought on at White Plains. Howe began the engage¬ 
ment with a furious cannonade, which was answered with spirit. The 
Americans were driven from one important position, but immediately re- 
entrenched themselves in another. Night came on; Howe waited for 
reinforcements, and Washington withdrew to the heights of North Castle. 
Howe remained for a few days at White Plains, and then returned to 
New York. 

23. Washington, apprehending that the British would now proceed 


276 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


against Philadelphia, crossed to the west bank of the Hudson and tooK 
post with General Greene at Fort Lee. Four thousand men were left at 
North Castle under command of General Lee. 
Fort Washington, on Manhattan Island, five 
miles north of the city, was defended by three 
thousand men under Colonel Magaw. This 
fort was a place of great natural and artificial 
strength. The skill of its construction had 
attracted the attention of Washington and led 
to an acquaintance with the engineer, who 
from that time forth, through the stormy vi¬ 
cissitudes of nearly a quarter of a century, en¬ 
joyed the unclouded confidence of his chief; 
the engineer was Alexander Hamilton, 
then a stripling of but twenty years of age. 

24. On the 16th of November the British 
attacked Fort Washington in overwhelming 
force. The garrison made a stubborn defence. 
More than five hundred of the assailants were 
killed or wounded. But valor could not prevail against superior num¬ 
bers, and Magaw, after losing a hundred and fifty men, was obliged to 
capitulate. The garrison, numbering more than two thousand, were made 
prisoners of war and crowded into the foul jails of New York. Two 
days after the surrender, Cornwallis crossed the Hudson with a body of 
six thousand men and marched against Fort Lee. Seeing that a defence 
would only end in worse disaster, Washington hastily withdrew across the 
Hackensack. All the baggage and military stores collected in Fort Lee 
fell into the hands of the British, who at once pressed forward after the 
retreating Americans. Washington with his army, now reduced to three 
thousand men, crossed the Passaic to Newark; but Cornwallis and Knyp- 
hausen came hard after the fugitives. The patriots retreated to Elizabeth¬ 
town, thence to New Brunswick, thence to Princeton, and finally to 
Trenton on the Delaware. The British were all the time in close pursuit, 
and the music of their bands was frequently heard by the rearguard of 
the American army. Nothing but the consummate skill of Washington 
saved the remnant of his forces from destruction. Despair seemed settling 
on the country like a pall. 

25. On the 8th of December, Washington crossed the Delaware. The 
British essayed to do the same, but the American commander had secreted 
or destroyed every boat within seventy miles. In order to effect his 
passage, Cornwallis must build a bridge or wait for the freezing of the 




THE WORK OF 76 . 


277 


river. The latter course was chosen; and the British army was stationed 
in detachments in various towns and villages east of the Delaware. Tren¬ 
ton was held by a body of nearly two thousand Hessians under Colonel 
Rahl. It was seen that as soon as the river should be frozen the British 
would march unopposed into Philadelphia. Congress accordingly ad¬ 
journed to Baltimore; and there, on the 20th of the month, a resolution 
was adopted arming Washington with dictatorial powers to direct all the 
operations of the war. 

26. Meanwhile, the British fleet under command of Admiral Parker 
had left New York for Narragansett Bay. On the same day that Wash¬ 
ington crossed the Delaware the islands of Rhode Island, Prudence and 
Conanicut were taken; and the American squadron under Commander 
Hopkins was blockaded in Blackstone River. During his retreat across 
Yew Jersey, Washington had sent repeated despatches to General Lee, in 
command of the* detachment at North Castle, to join the main army as 
soon as possible. Lee was a proud, insubordinate man, and virtually 
disobeyed his orders. Marching leisurely into New Jersey, he reached 
Morristown. Here he tarried, and took up his quarters at an inn at 
Basking Ridge. On the 13th of December, a squad of British cavalry 
dashed up to the tavern, seized Lee and hurried him off* to New York. 
General Sullivan, who had recently been exchanged, now took command 
of Lee’s division, and hastened to join Washington. Fifteen hundred 
volunteers from Philadelphia and vicinity were added, making the entire 
American force a little more than six thousand. 

27. The tide of misfortune turned at last. Washington saw in the 
disposition of the British forces an opportunity to strike a blow for his 
disheartened country. The leaders of the enemy were off their guard. 
They believed that the war was ended. Cornwallis obtained leave of 
absence, left New Jersey under command of Grant, and made preparations 
to return to England. The Hessians on the east side of the river were 
spread out from Trenton to Burlington. Washington conceived the bold 
design of crossing the Delaware and striking the detachment at Trenton 
before a concentration of the enemy’s forces could be effected. The 
American army was accordingly arranged in three divisions. The first, 
under General Cadwallader, was to cross the river at Bristol and attack 
the British at Burlington. General Ewing with his brigade was to pass 
over a little below Trenton for the purpose of intercepting the retreat. 
Washington himself, with Greene and Sullivan and twenty-four hundred 
men, was to cross nine miles above Trenton, march down the river and 
assault the town. The movement was planned with the utmost secrecy 
—the preparations made with prudence and care. Christmas night was 


278 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


selected as the time; for it was known that the Hessians would spend the 
day in drinking and carousals. 

28. About the 20th of the month, the weather became very cold, and 
by the evening of the 25th the Delaware was filled with floating ice. 
Ewing and Cadwallader were both baffled in their efforts to cross the 
river. Washington’s division succeeded in getting over, but the passage 
was delayed till three o’clock in the morning. All hope of reaching 
Trenton before daybreak was at an end; but Washington, believing that 
the Hessians would sleep late after their revels, divided his army into two 
columns and pressed forward. One division, led by Sullivan, passed 

down the river to attack the town on the west; 
the other, commanded by Washington and Greene, 
made a circuit to the Princeton road. The move¬ 
ment was entirely successful. At eight o’clock 
in the morning the American columns came rush¬ 
ing into the village from both directions. The 
astonished Hessians sprang from their quarters 
and attempted to form in line. At the first onset 
Colonel Rahl was mortally wounded. Forty or 
fifty others fell before the volleys of the patriots. 
For a few minutes there was confusion, and then 
a cry for quarter. Nearly a thousand of the 
dreaded Hessians threw down their arms and 
begged for mercy. At the first alarm about six 
hundred light horse and infantry had escaped 
toward Bordentown. All the rest were made prisoners of war. Before 
nightfall Washington, with his victorious men and the whole body of 
captives, was safe on the other side of the Delaware. 

29. The battle of Trenton roused the nation from despondency. Con¬ 
fidence in the commander and hope in the ultimate success of the Amer¬ 
ican cause were everywhere revived. The militia from the neighboring 
provinces flocked to the general’s standard; and fourteen hundred sol¬ 
diers, whose term of enlistment now expired, cheerfully re-entered the 
service. It was at this time that Robert Morris of Philadelphia, the great 
financier of the Revolution, came forward with his princely fortune to 
the support of his distressed country. As to Cornwallis, he found it nec¬ 
essary to postpone his visit to England and hasten back to New Jersey. 

30. Three days after his victory, Washington again crossed the Del¬ 
aware and took post at Trenton. Here all the American detachments in 
the vicinity were ordered to assemble. To General Heath, in command 
of the New England militia stationed at Peekskill, on the Hudson, Wash- 



BATTEE OF TEENTON AND 
PRINCETON, 1776-7. 





OPERATIONS OF 77 . 


279 


ington sent orders to move into New Jersey. The British fell back from 
their outposts on the Delaware and concentrated in great force at Prince¬ 
ton. Cornwallis took command in person, and resolved to attack and 
overwhelm Washington at Trenton. So closed the year. Ten days 
previously, Howe only waited for the freezing of the Delaware before 
taking up his quarters in Philadelphia. Now it was a question whether 
he would be able to hold a single town in New Jersey. 


CHAPTER IV. 

OPERA TIONS OF 77 . 

O N the 1st of January, 1777, Washington’s army at Trenton numbered 
about five thousand men. On the next day Cornwallis approached 
from Princeton with greatly superior forces. The British were exasper¬ 
ated and the Americans resolute. During the afternoon there was severe 
and constant skirmishing in the fields and along the roads to the east and 
north of Trenton. As the columns of the enemy pressed on, Washington 
abandoned the village and took up a stronger position on the south side 
of Assanpink Creek. The British, attempting to force a passage, were 
driven back; it was already sunset, and Cornwallis deferred the attack 
till the morrow. 

2. Washington’s position was critical in the extreme. To attempt to 
recross the Delaware was hazardous. To retreat in any direction was to 
lose all that he had gained by his recent victory. To be beaten in battle 
was utter ruin. In the great emergency he called a council of war and 
announced his determination to leave the camp by night, make a circuit 
to the east, pass the British left flank and strike the detachment at Prince¬ 
ton before his antagonist could discover or impede the movement. Orders 
were immediately issued for the removal of the baggage to Burlington. 
In order to deceive the enemy, the camp-fires along the Assanpink were 
brightly kindled and a guard left to keep them burning through the night. 
Then the army was put in motion by the circuitous route to Princeton. 
Everything was done in silence, and the British sentries walked their 
beats until the morning light showed them a deserted camp. Just then 
the roar of the American cannon, thirteen miles away, gave Cornwallis 
notice of how he had been outgeneraled. 

3. At sunrise Washington was entering Princeton. At the same mo- 



280 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


ment the British regiments stationed there were marching out by the 
Trenton road to reinforce Cornwallis. The Americans met them in the 
edge of the village, and the battle at once began. The patriots, under 
General Mercer, posted themselves behind a hedge, and were doing good 
work with their muskets until the British charged bayonets. Then the 
militia gave way in confusion, and Mercer, one of the bravest of the brave, 
received a mortal wound. But the Pennsylvania reserves and regulars 
were at hand, led by the commander-in-chief. The valor of Washington 
never shone with brighter lustre. He spurred among his flying men, who 
rallied at his call. He rode between the hostile lines and reined his horse 
within thirty yards of the enemy’s column. There he stood. From both 
sides there came a crash of musketry. Washington’s aid drew his hat 
over his eyes that he might not see the chieftain die. The wind tossed 
up the smoke, and there, unhurt, was the sublime leader of the American 
armies. The British were already broken and flying, with a loss of four 
hundred and thirty men in killed, wounded and missing. The loss of 
the Americans was small; but the gallant Mercer was greatly lamented. 

4. Washington had intended to press on to Brunswick and destroy the 
enemy’s magazines. His men, however, were too much exhausted for the 
march. The legions of Cornwallis were already in hearing, and there 
was no time for delay. Washington accordingly withdrew to the north, 
and on the 5th of January took a strong position at Morristown. Corn¬ 
wallis hastened to New Brunswick to protect his stores. In a short time 
the whole of New Jersey north of Newark and Elizabethtown was recov¬ 
ered by the patriots. In all parts of the State the militia rose in arms; 
straggling parties of the British were cut off, and the outposts of the enemy 
were kept in constant alarm. The Hessians, whose barbarous invasion 
and brutal conduct had almost ruined the country, were the special objects 
of patriot vengeance. Vexed by the perpetual assaults of partisan war¬ 
fare, Cornwallis gradually contracted his lines, abandoning one post after 
another, until his whole force was cooped up in New Brunswick and 
Amboy. The boastful British army that was to have taken Philadelphia 
now thought only of a safe return to New York. 

5. In the early spring, General Howe despatched a fleet up the Hudson 
to destroy the American stores at Peekskill. Macdougal, the command¬ 
ant, finding himself too feeble to make a successful defence, blew up the 
magazines and retreated. On the 13th of April Cornwallis marched a 
division out of New Brunswick and surprised General Lincoln, who was 
stationed at Boundbrook on the Raritan; but the latter made good his 
retreat with a trifling loss. On the 25th of the same month, General 
Tryon with a detachment of two thousand men landed on the north shore 


OPERATIONS OF 77 . 


281 


of Long Island Sound, and proceeded against Danbury, Connecticut. 
After destroying a large quantity of stores and burning the town the 
British began a retreat to the coast. Immediately they were attacked on 
flank and rear by the exasperated patriots, who, led by the aged Wooster 
and the daring Arnold, made charge after charge on the retreating foe. 
Before regaining their shipping the British lost more than two hundred 
men ; of the patriots about sixty were killed and wounded. The veteran 
Wooster, now sixty-eight years of age, fell in this engagement. 

6. A similar expedition, undertaken by the Americans, was more suc¬ 
cessful. Colonel Meigs, of Connecticut, learning that the British were 
collecting stores at Sag Harbor, near the eastern extremity of Long Island, 
gathered two hundred militiamen, and determined to surprise the post. 
On the night of the 22d of May he embarked his men in whale-boats, 
crossed the Sound, and reached Sag Harbor just before day dawn on the 
following morning. The British, numbering a hundred, were over¬ 
powered ; only four of them escaped; five or six were killed, and the re¬ 
maining ninety were made prisoners. A gun-ship, ten loaded transports 
and a vast amount of stores were destroyed by the victorious patriots, who, 
without the loss of a man, returned to Guilford with their captives. For 
this gallant deed Colonel Meigs received an elegant sword from Congress. 

7. Washington remained in his camp at Morristown until the latter 
part of May. Cornwallis was still at New Brunswick, and it was neces¬ 
sary that the American commander should watch the movements of his 
antagonist. The patriot forces of the North were now concentrated on the 
Hudson ; and a large camp, under command of Arnold, was laid out on 
the Delaware. Both divisions were within supporting distance of Wash¬ 
ington, who now broke up his winter-quarters and took an advantageous 
position at Boundbrook, only ten miles from the British camp. Howe 
now crossed over from New York, reinforced Cornwallis and threatened 
an attack upon the American lines; but Washington stood his ground, 
and Howe pressed forward as far as Somerset Court-House, in the direc¬ 
tion of the Delaware. The movement was only a feint intended to draw 
Washington from his position; but he was too wary to be deceived, and 
the British fell back through New Brunswick to Amboy. The American 
lines were now advanced as far as Quibbletown. While in this position, 
Howe, on the night of the 25th of June, turned suddenly about and made 
a furious attack on the American van; but Washington withdrew his 
forces without serious loss and regained his position at Boundbrook. 
Again the British retired to Amboy, and on the 30th of the month crossed 
over to Staten Island. After more than six months of manoeuvring and 
fighting the invading army was fairly driven out of New Jersey. 


282 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES . 


8. On the 10th of July a brilliant exploit was performed in Rhode 
Island. Colonel William Barton, of Providence, learning that Major- 
General Prescott of the British army was quartered at a farm-house near 
Newport, apart from his division, determined to capture him. On the 
night of the 10th of July the daring colonel, with forty volunteers, em¬ 
barked at Providence, dropped down the bay, and reached the island 
near Prescott’s lodgings. The movement was not discovered. The 
British sentinel was deceived with a plausible statement, and then threat¬ 
ened with death if he did not remain quiet. The patriots rushed forward, 
burst open Prescott’s door, seized him in bed, and hurried him, half clad, 
to the boats. The alarm was raised; a squad of cavalry came charging 
to the water’s edge; but the provincials were already paddling out of 
sight with their prisoner. This lucky exploit gave the Americans an 
officer of equal rank to exchange for General Lee. Colonel Barton was 
rewarded with promotion and an elegant sword. 

9. Meanwhile, Congress had returned to Philadelphia. The American 
government was at this time essentially weak in its structure and ineffi¬ 
cient in action. Nevertheless, there was much valuable legislation which 
tended to strengthen the army and the nation. But the most auspicious 
sign that gladdened the patriots was the unequivocal sympathy of the 
French. From the beginning of the contest the people of France had 
espoused the American cause. Now, after the lapse of two years, their 
sympathy became more outspoken and enthusiastic. True, the French 
government would do nothing openly which was calculated to provoke a 
war with Great Britain. Outwardly the forms and sentiments of peace 
were preserved between the two nations; but secretly the French rejoiced 
at British misfortune and applauded the action of the colonies. Soon the 
Americans came to understand that if money was required France would 
lend it; if supplies were needed, France would furnish them; if arms 
were to be purchased, France had arms to-sell. During the year 1777 
the French partisans of America managed to supply the colonies with 
more than twenty thousand muskets and a thousand barrels of powder. 

10. At last the republicans of France, displeased with the double-deal¬ 
ing of their government, began to embark for America. Foremost of all 
came the gallant young Marquis of La Fayette.* Though the king 
withheld permission, though the British minister protested, though family 
and home and kindred beckoned the youthful nobleman to return, he left 
all to fight the battle of freedom in another land. Fitting a vessel at his 
own expense, he eluded the officers, and with the brave De Kalb and a 
small company of followers reached Georgetown, South Carolina, in 

* La Fayette’s name was Gilbert Motier. 


OPERATIONS OF 77 . 


283 


April of 1777. He at once entered the patriot army as a volunteer, and 
in the following July was commissioned as a major-general. Not yet 
twenty years of age, he clung to Washington as son to father, and through 
life their friendship was unclouded. 

11. One of the most important events of the whole war was the cam¬ 
paign of Lieutenant-General Burgoyne. This distinguished British officer 
arrived at Quebec in March of 1777. Superseding Sir Guy Carleton in 
command of the English forces in Canada, he spent the months of April 
and May in organizing a powerful army for the invasion of New York. 
By the beginning of June he had thoroughly equipped a force of ten thou¬ 
sand men, of whom about seven thousand were British and Hessian vet¬ 
erans; the rest were Canadians and Indians. The plan of the campaign 
embraced a descent upon Albany by way of Lake Champlain, Lake 
George and the Upper Hudson. From Albany it was Burgoyne’s pur¬ 
pose to descend the river to New York and unite his forces with the main 
division of the British army. By this means New England was to be cut 
off from the Middle and Southern colonies and the whole country placed 
at the mercy of Howe. That any successful resistance could be offered to 
the progress of the invading army was little imagined. 

12. On the 1st of June Burgoyne reached St. John’s, at the foot of 
Lake Champlain, and on the 16th proceeded to Crown Point. This 
place, which was undefended, was occupied by a British garrison; and 
the main army swept on to Ticonderoga, which was at that time held by 
three thousand men under General St. Clair. The British soon gained 
possession of Mount Defiance, and planted a battery seven hundred feet 
above the American works. Mount Hope was also seized and retreat by 
way of Lake George cut off. St. Clair, seeing that resistance would be 
hopeless, abandoned the fort on the night of the 5th of July, and escaped 
with the garrison byway of Mount Independence and Wood Creek. The 
British pressed after the fugitives, and overtook them at Hubbardton, a 
village in Vermont, seventeen miles from Ticonderoga. A sharp engage¬ 
ment ensued, in which the Americans fought so obstinately as to check the 
pursuit; and then continued their retreat to Fort Edward. On the fol¬ 
lowing day the British reached Whitehall and captured a large quantity 
of baggage, stores and provisions. 

13. At this time the American army of the North was commanded by 
General Schuyler, a man whose patriotism was greater than his abilities. 
His headquarters were at Fort Edward, where he remained until after the 
arrival of St. Clair. The garrison now numbered between four and five 
thousand men; but this force was deemed inadequate to hold the place 
against Burgoyne’s army. Schuyler therefore evacuated the post and 


284 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


retreated down the Hudson as far as the islands at the mouth of the 
Mohawk. Burgoyne came on by way of Fort Ann, which the Americans 
had demolished, and thence through the woods over obstructed roads to 
Fort Edward, where he arrived on the 30th of July. Fearing that his 
supplies would be exhausted before he could reach Albany, the British 
general now made a halt, and despatched Colonel Baum with five hundred 
men to seize the provincial stores at Bennington, Vermont. Colonel 
John Stark rallied the New Hampshire militia, and on the 15th of 
August met the British a short distance from the village. On the follow¬ 
ing morning there was a furious battle, in which Baum’s force was fairly 
annihilated. A battalion of Hessians, led by Breymann, arrived on the 
field, only to be utterly routed by the Americans, who were reinforced by 
the gallant colonel Warner. The British lost a hundred and forty in 
killed and wounded, and nearly seven hundred prisoners. The whole 
country was thrilled by the victory, and the patriots began to rally from 
all quarters. 

14. A few days after the battle of Bennington, Burgoyne received in¬ 
telligence of a still greater reverse. At the beginning of the invasion a 
large force of Canadians, Tories and Indians, commanded by General St. 
Leger, had been sent by way of Oswego against Fort Schuyler, at the 
head of navigation on the Mohawk. This important post was held by a 
small garrison under Colonel Gansevoort. On the 3d of August St. Leger 
invested the fort, and it seemed that a successful defence was impossible; 
but the brave General Herkimer rallied the militia of the surrounding 
country and advanced to the relief of the garrison. When nearing the 
fort, the patriots fell into an Indian ambuscade, and a terrible hand-to- 
hand conflict ensued in the woods. Herkimer was defeated with a loss 
of a hundred and sixty men in killed, wounded and prisoners. The loss 
of the savages was almost as great. Hardly had the conflict ended when 
the garrison made a sally, carried everything before them, and then fell 
back with trophies and prisoners. Already the impetuous and fearless 
Arnold had volunteered to lead a detachment from the Hudson for the 
relief of the fort. At his approach the savages plundered the British 
camp and fled. St. Leger, dismayed at the treachery of the barbarians, 
raised the siege and retreated. Fort Schuyler was saved and strengthened. 
Such was the news that was borne to Burgoyne at Fort Edward. 

15. The British general had now lost a month in procuring supplies 
from Canada. Should he retreat? Ruin and disgrace were in that 
direction. Should he go forward? More than nine thousand patriot 
soldiers were in that direction. For General Lincoln had arrived with 
the militia of New England; Washington had sent several detachments 


OPERATIONS OF 77 . 


285 


from the regular army; Morgan had come with his famous riflemen. 
Meanwhile, General Gates had superseded Schuyler in command of the 
northern army. On the 8th of September the American headquarters 
were advanced to Stillwater. At Bemis’s Heights, 
a short distance north of this place, a strong 
camp was laid out and fortified under direction 
of the noted Polish engineer Thaddeus Kos¬ 
ciusko. On the 14th of the month, Burgoyne 
crossed the Hudson and took post at Saratoga. 

Until the 18th he advanced his camp a mile each 
day, when the two armies were face to face and 
but two miles apart. On the afternoon of the 
19th the advance parties of the British attacked 
the American wings, and a general battle ensued, 
continuing until nightfall. The conflict, though 
severe, was indecisive; the Americans retired 
within their lines, and the British slept under 
arms on the field. To the patriots, whose num¬ 
bers were constantly increasirfg, the result of the battle was equivalent 
to a victory. 

16. The condition of Burgoyne grew more and more critical. On all 
sides the lines of Gates were closing around him. His supplies failed; 
his soldiers were put on partial rations; his Canadian and Indian allies 
deserted his standard. But the British general was courageous and 
resolute; he strengthened his defences and flattered his men with the 
hope that General Clinton, who now commanded the British army in 
New York, would make a diversion in their favor. The latter did 
ascend the river as far as Forts Clinton and Montgomery. Both these 
forts, after an obstinate defence, were carried by assault. Colonel Vaughan 
was sent on with a thousand men as far as the town of Kingston, which 
was burned; besides the destruction of stores and private property, nothing 
further was accomplished, and the condition of Burgoyne became des¬ 
perate. On the 7th of October he hazarded another battle, in which he 
lost his bravest officers and nearly seven hundred privates. The conflict 
was terrible, lasting from two o’clock in the afternoon till twilight. At 
last Morgan’s riflemen singled out the brave General Fraser, who com¬ 
manded the British right, and killed him. His disheartened men turned 
and fled from the field. On the American side, Arnold, who had re¬ 
signed his commission, rode at full speed to his old command, and, without 
authority , became the inspiring genius of the battle. He charged like a 
madman, drove the enemy before him, eluded Gates’s aid who was sent to 



SCENE OF BURGOYNE’S 
INVASION, 1777 . 




286 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


call him back, burst into the British camp and was severely wounded. 
The Americans were completely victorious. 

17. On the night after the battle Burgoyne led his shattered army to 
a stronger position. The Americans immediately occupied the abandoned 
camp, and then pressed after the fugitives; for the British were already 
retreating. On the 9th of October Burgoyne reached Saratoga and 
attempted to escape to Fort Edward. But Gates and Lincoln now com¬ 
manded the river, and the proud Briton was hopelessly hemmed in. He 
held out to the last extremity, and finally, when there were only three 
days between his soldiers and starvation, was driven to surrender. On 
the 17th of October terms of capitulation were agreed on, and the whole 
army, numbering five thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, became 
prisoners of war. Among the captives were six members of the British 
Parliament. A splendid train of brass artillery consisting of forty-two 
pieces, together with nearly five thousand muskets, and an immense 
quantity of ammunition and stores, was the further fruit of the victory. 
The valor of the patriots had fairly eclipsed the warlike renown of Great 
Britain. 

18. As soon as Burgoyne’s invasion was at an end, a large portion of 
the victorious army of the North was despatched to the aid of Washing¬ 
ton. For, in the mean time, a great campaign had been in progress in 
the South; and the patriots were sorely pressed. At the beginning of 
July, Howe had abandoned New Jersey. On the 23d of the same month 
he sailed with eighteen thousand men to attack Philadelphia by way of 
the Delaware. Washington, suspecting the object of the expedition, broke 
up his camp and marched rapidly southward. Off the capes of Virginia 
Howe learned that the Americans had obstructed the Delaware, so as to 
prevent the passage of his fleet. He therefore determined to enter the 
Chesapeake, anchor at the head of the bay and make the attack by land. 
As soon as Washington obtained information of the enemy’s plans, he 
advanced his headquarters from Philadelphia to Wilmington, and there 
the American army, numbering between eleven and twelve thousand 
men, was concentrated. The forces of Howe were vastly superior in 
numbers and equipments, but Washington hoped by selecting his ground 
and acting on the defensive to beat back the invaders and save the 
capital. 

19. On the 25th of August, the British landed at Elk River, in Mary¬ 
land, and nine days afterward began their march toward Philadelphia. 
After a council of war and some changes in the arrangement of his forces, 
Washington selected the left bank of the Brandywine as his line of de¬ 
fence. The left wing of the American army was stationed at Chad’s Ford 


OPERATIONS OF 77 . 


287 


to dispute the passage, while the right wing, under General Sullivan, was 
extended for three miles up the river. On the 11th of September the 
British reached the opposite bank and began battle. What seemed to be 
their principal attack was made by the Hessians under Knyphausen at 
the ford; and here Wayne’s division held the enemy in check. But the 
onset of Knyphausen was only a feint to keep the Americans engaged 
until a stronger column of the British, led by Cornwallis and Howe, could 
march up the south bank of the Brandywine and cross at a point above 
the American right. In this way Sullivan, who was not on the alert, 
allowed himself to be outflanked. Washington was misled by false in¬ 
formation ; the right wing, though the men under La Fayette and Stir¬ 
ling fought with great courage, was crushed in by Cornwallis; and the 
day was hopelessly lost. 

20. During the night the defeated patriots retreated to Westchester. 
Greene brought up the rear in good order; through his efforts and those 
of the commander-in-chief the army was saved from destruction. The 
loss of the Americans in killed, wounded and missing amounted to fully 
a thousand men ; that of the British to five hundred and eighty-four. The 
gallant La Fayette was severely wounded ; Count Pulaski, a brave Pole 
who had espoused the patriot cause, so distinguished himself in this en¬ 
gagement that Congress honored him with the rank of brigadier and gave 
him command of the cavalry. On the day after the battle, Washington 
continued his retreat to Philadelphia, and then took post at Germantown, 
a few miles from the city. Undismayed by his reverse, he resolved to 
risk another engagement. Accordingly, on the 15th of the month, he 
recrossed the Schuylkill and marched toward the British camp. Twenty 
miles below Philadelphia he met Howe at Warren’s Tavern. For a 
while the two armies manoeuvred, the enemy gaining the better position; 
then a spirited skirmish ensued, and a great battle was imminent. But 
just as the conflict was beginning a violent tempest of wind and rain 
swept over the field. The combatants were deluged, their cartridges 
soaked, and fighting made impossible. On the next day Howe marched 
down the Schuylkill ; Washington recrossed the river and confronted his 
antagonist. Howe turned suddenly about and hurried up stream along 
the right bank in the direction of Reading. Washington, fearing for his 
stores, pressed forward up the left bank to Potlsiown, But the move¬ 
ment of the British westward was only feigned ; again Howe wheeled, 
marched rapidly to the ford above Norristown, crossed the river and 
hastened to Philadelphia. On the 26th of September the city was entered 
without opposition, and the main division of the British army encamped 

•at Germantown. 

19 


288 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


21. At the approach of Howe, Congress adjourned to Lancaster. On 
the 27th of September the members met at that place, and again adjourned 
to York, where they assembled on the 30th and continued to hold their 
sessions until the British evacuated Philadelphia in the following summer. 
Washington now made his camp on Skippaek Creek, about twenty miles 
from the city. As soon as Howe found himself safe in the u rebel cap¬ 
ital,” as he was pleased to call it, he despatched a large division of his 
army to capture forts Mifflin and Mercer on the Delaware. Germantown 
was thus considerably weakened, and Washington resolved to attempt a 
a surprise. The same plan of attack which had been so successful at 
Trenton was again adopted. On the night of the 3d of October the 
American army, arranged in several divisions, marched silently toward 
Germantown. The roads were rough, and the different columns reached 
the British outposts at irregular intervals. The morning was foggy, and 
the movements of both armies were unsteady and confused. There was 
much severe fighting, and at one time it seemed that the British would be 
overwhelmed; but they gained possession of a large stone house and 
held it. A foolish attempt to dislodge them gave the enemy time to 
rally. Some strong columns of Americans were kept out of the battle 
by the inefficiency of their commanders; the tide turned against the 
patriots, and the day was lost. Of the Americans a hundred and fifty- 
two were killed, five hundred and twenty-one wounded, and about four 
hundred missing. Howe reported the British loss at five hundred and 
thirty-five. The retreat of the Americans was covered by Greene and 
Pulaski. 

22. On the 22d of October Fort Mercer, on the New Jersey side of 
the Delaware, seven miles below Philadelphia, was assaulted by twelve 
hundred Hessians under Count Donop. The garrison, though number¬ 
ing but four hundred, made a brave and successful resistance. The 
assault was like that at Bunker Hill. Count Donop received a mortal 
wound, and nearly four hundred of his men fell before the American 
entrenchments. At the same time the British fleet, assisted by a land- 
force from Philadelphia, attacked Fort Mifflin on Mud Island, in the 
Delaware. Here also the assailants met with an obstinate resistance. 
The assault became a siege, which lasted till the 15th of November. The 
patriots held out against superior numbers until every gun was dismounted 
and every palisade demolished. Then at midnight the ruined fortress 
was set on fire, and the garrison escaped to Fort Mercer. To make a 
second attack on this place Howe despatched two thousand men under 
Cornwallis. Washington sent General Greene to succor the fortress ; but 
Cornwallis was strongly reinforced, and the American general would not 


OPERATIONS OF 77 . 


289 


hazard a battle. On the 20th of November Fort Mercer was abandoned 
to the British; and thus General Howe obtained undisputed control of 
the Delaware. 

23. After the battle of Germantown Washington took up his head¬ 
quarters at Whitemarsh, twelve miles from Philadelphia. Winter was 
approaching, and the patriots began to suffer for food and clothing. 
Howe, knowing the distressed condition of the Americans, determined to 
surprise their camp. On the evening of the 2d of December he held a 
council of war, and it was decided to march against Washington on the 
following night. But Lydia Darrah, at whose house the council was 
held, overheard the plan of the enemies of her country. On the follow¬ 
ing morning she obtained a passport from Lord Howe, left the city on 
pretence of going to mill, rode rapidly to the American lines, and sent 
information of the impending attack to Washington. When, on the 
morning of the 4th, the British approached Whitemarsh they found the 
cannon mounted and the patriots standing in order of battle. The British 
general manoeuvred for four days, and then marched back to Philadel¬ 
phia. During the remainder of the winter the city was occupied by 
nearly twenty thousand English and Hessian soldiers. There they 
reveled and rioted. Everything that the magazines of Great Britain 
could furnish was lavished upon the army of invaders who lay warmly 
housed in the city of Penn. In the patriot camp there was a different 
scene. 

24. On the 11th of December Washington left his position at White¬ 
marsh and went into winter-quarters at Valley Forge on the right bank 
of the Schuylkill. The march thither occupied four days. Thousands 
of the soldiers were without shoes, and 
the frozen ground was marked with bloody 
footprints. The sagacity of Washington 
had pointed to a strong position for his 
encampment. To the security of the 
river and hills the additional security of 
redoubts and entrenchments was added. 

Log cabins were built for the soldiers, and 
everything was done that could be done 
to secure the comfort of the suffering pat¬ 
riots. But it was a long and dreary winter; moaning and anguish were 
heard in the camp, and the echo fell heavy on the soul of the commander. 
These were the darkest days of Washington’s life. Congress in a mea¬ 
sure abandoned him, the people withheld their sympathies. The brilliant 
success of the army of the North was unjustly compared with the reverses 




290 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


of the army of the South. Many men high in military and civil station 
left the great leader unsupported in the hour of his grief; even Samuel 
Adams, impatient under calamity, withdrew his confidence. There was 
a miserable conspiracy headed by Gates, Conway and Mifflin. Washing¬ 
ton was to be superseded, and Gates or Lee was to be made commander- 
in-chief. But the alienation was only for a moment; the allegiance of 
the army remained unshaken, and the nation’s confidence in the troubled 
chieftain became stronger than ever. Still, at the close of 1777, the 
patriot cause was obscured with clouds and misfortune. 


CHAPTER Y. 

FRANCE TO THE RESCUE. 

F OUR months before the declaration of independence, Silas Deane of 
Connecticut was appointed commissioner to France. His business 
at the French court was to act as the political and commercial agent of 
the United Colonies. His first service was to make a secret arrangement 
with Beaumarchais, a rich French merchant, by which the latter was to 
supply the Americans with the materials necessary for carrying on the war. 
The king of France and his prime minister, Vergennes, winked at this 
proceeding; but the agents of Great Britain were jealous and suspicious, 
and it was not until the autumn of 1777 that a ship laden with two hun¬ 
dred thousand dollars’ worth of arms, ammunition and specie could be 
sent to America. In that ship came Baron Steuben, a veteran soldier and 
disciplinarian from the army of Frederic the Great. Arriving at Ports¬ 
mouth, the baron tarried a short time in New England, and then repaired 
to York, where Congress was in session. From that body he received a 
commission, and at once joined Washington at Valley Forge. His acces¬ 
sion to the American army was an event of great importance. He re¬ 
ceived the appointment of inspector-general; and from the day in which 
he entered upon the discharge of his duties there was a marked improve¬ 
ment in the condition and discipline of the soldiers. The American reg¬ 
ulars were never again beaten when confronted by the British in equal 
numbers. 

2. In November of 1776 Arthur Lee and Benjamin Franklin were 
appointed by Congress to negotiate an open treaty of friendship and com- 



FRANCE TO THE RESCUE. 


291 


merce wim the French king. In the following month they reached Paris 
and began their conferences with Vergennes. For a long time King 
Louis and his minister were wary of the proposed alliance. They cor¬ 
dially hated Great Britain, they rejoiced that the British empire was about 
to be dismembered, they gave secret encouragement to the colonies to hold 
out in their rebellion, they loaned money and shipped arms to America; 
but an open alliance was equivalent to a war with England, and that the 
French court dreaded. 

3. Now it was that the genius of Dr. Franklin shone with a peculiar 
lustre. At the gay court of Louis XVI. he stood as the representative 
of his country. No nation ever had an ambassador of greater wisdom 
and sagacity. His reputation for learning had preceded him; the dignity 
of his demeanor and the simplicity of his manners added to his fame. 
Whether as philosopher or diplomatist, no man in that great city of fashion 
was the equal of the venerable American patriot. His wit and genial 
humor made him admired ; his talents and courtesy commanded respect; 
his patience and perseverance gave him final success. During the whole 
of 1777 he remained at Paris and Versailles, availing himself of every 
opportunity to promote the interests of his country. At last came the 
news of Burgoyne’s surrender. A powerful British army had been sub¬ 
dued by the colonists without aid from abroad. The success of the Amer¬ 
ican arms and the prospect of commercial advantage decided the wavering 
policy of the king, and in the beginning of winter he made an announce¬ 
ment of his determination to accept an alliance with the colonies. On the 
6th of February, 1778, a treaty was concluded ; France acknowledged the 
independence of the United States and entered into relations of reciprocal 
friendship with the new nation. It was further stipulated that in case 
England should declare war against France, the Americans and the 
French should make common cause, and that neither should subscribe to 
a treaty of peace without the concurrence of the other. In America the 
news of the new alliance was received with great rejoicing; in England, 
with vindictive anger. 

4. Benjamin Franklin, the author of the first treaty between the 
United States and a foreign nation, was bom in Boston on the 17th of 
January, 1706. His father was a manufacturer of soap and candles. 
To this humble vocation the young Benjamin was devoted by his parents; 
but the walls of a candle-shop were too narrow for his aspiring genius. 
At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to his brother to learn the art of 
printing; but the brother beat him, and he ran off to New York. There 
he found no employment. In 1723 he repaired to Philadelphia, entered 
a printing-office, and rose to distinction. He visited England; returned; 


292 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



founded the first circulating library in America; became a man of science; 
edited Poor Richard’s Almanac ; originated the American Philosophical 

Society; discovered the 
identity of electricity 
and lightning; made 
himself known in both 
hemispheres; espoused 
the cause of the pat¬ 
riots ; and devoted the 
unimpaired energies of 
his old age to per¬ 
fecting the American 
Union. The name of 
Franklin is one of the 
brightest in the history 
of any nation. 

5. In May of 1778 
Congress ratified the 
treaty with Franee. A 
month before this time 
a French fleet, com¬ 
manded by Count 
d’Estaing, had been 
despatched to Amer- 
benjamin franklin. i ca * The object was 

to sail into the Del¬ 
aware and blockade the British squadron at Philadelphia. Both France 
and Great Britain understood full well that war was inevitable, and each 
immediately prepared for the conflict. George III. now became willing 
to treat with his American subjects. Lord North, the prime minister, 
brought forward two bills in which everything that the colonists had 
claimed was conceded. The bills were passed by Parliament, and the 
king assented. Commissioners were sent to America; but Congress in¬ 
formed them that nothing but an express acknowledgment of the inde¬ 
pendence of the United States would now be accepted. Then the com. 
missioners tried bribery and intrigue; and Congress would hold no furthei 
conference with them. 

6. From September of 1777 until the following June the British army 
remained at Philadelphia. The fleet of Admiral Howe lay in the Del¬ 
aware. In the spring of 1778, General Howe was superseded by Sir 
Henry Clinton. When the rumor came that the fleet of D’Estaing was 


FRANCE TO THE RESCUE. 


293 


approaching, the English admiral withdrew from the Delaware and sailed 
for New York. Finally, on the 18th of June, the British army evacuated 
Philadelphia and retreated across New Jersey. Washington occupied the 
city, crossed the river, and followed the retreating foe. At Monmouth, 
eighteen miles south-east of New Brunswick, the British were overtaken. 
On the morning of the 28th General Lee was ordered to attack the enemy. 
The first onset was made by the American cavalry under La Fayette; 
but they were driven back by Cornwallis and Clinton. Lee, who had 
opposed the battle, and was not anxious for victory, ordered his line to 
fall back to a stronger position; but the troops mistook the order and 
began a retreat, the British charging after them. Washington met the 
fugitives, rallied them, administered a severe rebuke to Lee, and ordered 
him to the rear. During the rest of the engagement the haughty officer, 
half treacherous in his principles and practices, remained at a distance, 
making satirical remarks about the battle. The fight continued till night¬ 
fall ; the advantage was with the Americans; and Washington, in hope 
of a complete victory, anxiously waited for the morning. During the 
night, however, Clinton succeeded in withdrawing his forces from the 
field, and thus escaped the peril of defeat. 

7. The loss of the Americans in the battle of Monmouth was sixty- 
seven killed and a hundred and sixty wounded. The British left nearly 
three hundred dead on the field. On the day after the battle Washington 
received an insulting letter from Lee demanding an apology for the lan¬ 
guage which the commander-in-chief had used. Washington replied that 
the language was warranted by the circumstances. This Lee answered 
in a still more offensive manner, and was thereupon arrested, tried by a 
court-martial, and dismissed from his command for twelve months. The 
brave, rash man never re-entered the service, and did not live to see his 
country’s independence. 

8. The British land and naval forces were now concentrated at New 
York. Washington followed, crossed the Hudson, and took up his head¬ 
quarters at White Plains. On the 11th of July Count d’Estaing’s fleet 
arrived off Sandy Hook and attempted to attack the British squadron in 
the bay; but the bar at the entrance prevented the passage of the French 
.vessels. D’Estaing next sailed for Newport, Rhode Island, where the 
British, commanded by General Pigot, were in strong force. At the same 
time a division of the American army, led by General Sullivan, proceeded 
to Providence to co-operate with the French fleet in the attack on New¬ 
port. Greene and La Fayette came with reinforcements, and the whole 
army took post at Tiverton. On the 9th of August Sullivan succeeded 
in crossing the eastern passage of the bay, and secured a favorable position 


294 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


on the island. A joint attack by land and sea was planned for the fol¬ 
lowing day. On that morning, however, the fleet of Lord Howe, who 
had left New York in pursuit of the French, came in sight; and D’Estaing, 
instead of beginning the bombardment of Newport, sailed out to give 
battle to Howe. Just as the two squadrons were about to begin an en¬ 
gagement a violent storm arose by which the fleets were parted and 
greatly damaged. D’Estaing repaired to Boston, and Howe returned to 
New York. 

9. Sullivan laid siege to Newport; but when the French squadron 
sailed away, he found it necessary to retreat. The British pursued the 
Americans, and overtook them in the northern part of the island; a battle 
ensued, and Pigot was repulsed with a loss of two hundred and sixty 
men. On the following night Sullivan succeeded in reaching the main¬ 
land ; and it was well that he did so; for on the next day General Clin¬ 
ton arrived at Newport with a division of four thousand regulars. The 
Americans saved themselves by hastily retiring from the neighborhood. 
Clinton, having sent out a detachment under Colonel Grey to burn the 
American shipping in Buzzard’s Bay, destroy the stores in New Bedford 
and ravage Martha’s Vineyard, returned to New York. 

10. The command of the British naval forces in America was now 
transferred from Lord Howe to Admiral Byron. Sir Henry Clinton, 
unable to accomplish anything in honorable warfare, descended to maraud¬ 
ing and robbery. Early in October a band of incendiaries, led by Fer¬ 
guson, burned the American ships at Little Egg Harbor. For several 
miles inland the country was devastated, houses pillaged, barns burned, 
patriots murdered. To the preceding July belongs the sad story of the 
Wyoming massacre. Major John Butler, a tory of Niagara, raised a 
company of sixteen hundred loyalists, Canadians and Indians, and marched 
into the valley of Wyoming, county of Luzerne, Pennsylvania. The 
settlement was defenceless. The fathers and brothers were away in the 
patriot army. There were some feeble forts on the Susquehanna in the 
neighborhood of Wilkesbarre, but they were useless without defenders. 
On the approach of the tories and savages the few militia remaining in 
the valley, together with the old men and boys, rallied for the defence of 
their homes. A battle was fought, and the poor patriots were utterly 
routed. The fugitives fled to the principal fort, which was crowded 
with women and children. On came the murderous horde, and demanded 
a surrender. Honorable terms were promised by Butler, and the garrison 
capitulated. On the 5th of July the gates were opened, and the bar¬ 
barians entered. Immediately they began to plunder, then to burn, and 
then to use the hatchet and the scalping-knife. There is no authentic 


FRANCE TO THE RESCUE. 


295 


record of the horrible atrocities that followed. The savages divided 
into parties, scattered through the valley, plundered, robbed, burned, and 
drove almost every surviving family into the swamps or mountains. In 
this way George III. would subdue the American colonies. 

11. November witnessed a similar massacre at the village of Cherry 
Valley, Otsego county, New York. This time the invaders were led by 
Joseph Brant, the Mohawk sachem, and Walter Butler, a son of Major 
John Butler. The people of Cherry Valley were driven from their 
homes; every house in the village was burned; women and children were 
tomahawked and scalped; and forty miserable sufferers dragged into cap¬ 
tivity. To avenge these outrages an expedition was sent against the 
savages on the Upper Susquehanna; and they in turn were made to feel 
the terrors of war. In the preceding December the famous Major Clarke 
had received from Patrick Henry, then governor of Virginia, a commis¬ 
sion to proceed against the Indians west of the Alleghanies. The expe¬ 
dition left Pittsburg in the spring of 1778 ; descended to the mouth of the 
Ohio; and on the 4th of the following July captured Kaskaskia. Other 
important posts were taken; and in August Vincennes was forced to 
capitulate. 

12. On the 3d of November Count d’Estaing’s fleet sailed from Boston 
for the West Indies. In December Admiral Byron, in command of the 
British squadron, left New York to try the fortunes of war on the ocean. 
A few days previously, Colonel Campbell, with a force of two thousand 
men, was sent by General Clinton for the conquest of Georgia. On the 
29th of December the expedition reached Savannah. The place was de¬ 
fended bv General Robert Howe with a regiment of five hundred and 
fifty regulars, and three hundred militia. Notwithstanding the superior 
numbers of the British, Howe determined to risk a battle; but the result 
was disastrous. The Americans were routed and driven out of the city. 
Escaping up the river, the defeated patriots crossed into South Carolina 
and found refuge at Charleston. Such was the only real conquest made 
by the British during the year 1778. It was now nearly four years since 
the battle of Concord, and Great Britain had lost vastly more than she 
had gained in her struggle with the colonies. The city of New York was 
held by Clinton ; Newport was garrisoned by a division under Pigot; the 
feeble capital of Georgia was conquered; all the rest remained to the 
patriots. 


296 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER VI. 

MOVEMENTS OF ’79. 

T HE winter of 1778-79 was passed by the American army at Middle- 
brook, New Jersey. With the opening of spring there was much 
discouragement among the soldiers; for they were neither paid nor fed. 
Only the personal influence of Washington and the patriotism of the 
camp prevented a mutiny. Clinton opened the campaign with a number 
of predatory incursions into the surrounding country. In February, 
Try on, the old tory governor of New York, a man so savage in his nature 
that the Indians called him the Big Wolf, marched from Kingsbridge 
with a body of fifteen hundred regulars and tories to destroy the salt¬ 
works at Horse Neck, Connecticut. General Putnam, who chanced to 
be in that neighborhood, rallied the militia and made a brave defence. 
The Americans planted some cannon on the brow of a hill and fought 
with much spirit until they were outflanked by the British and obliged to 
fly. It was here that General Putnam, pursued and about to be over¬ 
taken by a party of dragoons, turned out of the road, spurred his horse 
down a precipice and escaped.* Tryon destroyed the salt-works, plun¬ 
dered and burned the village of West Greenwich and returned to Kings¬ 
bridge. 

2. In the latter part of May Clinton himself sailed with an armament 
up the Hudson to Stony Point. This strong position, commanding the 
river, had been chosen by Washington as the site of a fort; the Amer¬ 
icans were engaged upon the unfinished works when Clinton’s squadron 
came in sight. The feeble garrison, unable to resist the overwhelming 
numbers of the enemy, escaped from the fortifications. On the 1st of 
June the British entered, mounted cannon and began to bombard Ver- 
planck’s Point, on the other side of the river. Here the patriots made a 
brave resistance; but the British landed a strong force, surrounded the 
fort and compelled a surrender. Both Verplanck’s and Stony Point were 
strongly fortified and garrisoned by the enemy. About the same time 
Virginia suffered from an incursion of the tories. A vast amount of 
public and private property was destroyed ; and several towns, including 
Norfolk and Portsmouth, were laid in ashes. 

* After all, Putnam’s exploit was not so marvelous. In 1825 some of General La 
Fayette’s dragoons rode down the same hill for sport. 


MOVEMENTS OF 79 . 


297 


3. In July the ferocious Tryon again distinguished himself. With a 
force of twenty-six hundred Hessians and tories he sailed to New Haven, 
captured the city and would have burned it but for fear of the gathering 
militia. Having set East Haven on fire, the destroyers sailed down the 
Sound to the beautiful town of Fairfield, which was given to the flames. 
At Norwalk, while the village was burning and the terrified people flying 
from their homes, Tryon, on a neighboring hill, sat in a rocking-chair 
and laughed heartily at the scene. It was not long until these dastardly 
outrages were made to appear more dastardly by contrast with a heroic 
exploit of the patriots. 

4. Early in July General Wayne received orders to attempt the recap¬ 
ture of Stony Point. On the 15th of the month he mustered a force of 
light infantry at a convenient point on the Hudson and marched against 
the seemingly impregnable fortress. The movement was not discovered 
by the enemy. At eight o’clock in the evening Wayne halted a mile 
from the fort and gave orders for the assault. A negro who had learned 
the countersign went with the advance; the British pickets were deceived, 
caught and gagged. The Americans advanced in two columns, the first 
led by Wayne, and the second by the gallant Frenchman, Colonel He 
Fleury. Everything was done in silence. Muskets were unloaded and 
bayonets fixed; not a gun was to be fired. The two divisions, attacking 
from opposite sides, were to meet in the middle of the fort. The assault 
was made a little after midnight. Within pistol-shot of the sentinels on 
the height, the Americans were discovered. There was the cry, To arms! 
the rattle of drums, and then the roar of musketry and cannon. The 
patriots never wavered. The ramparts were scaled; and the British, find¬ 
ing themselves between two closing lines of bayonets, cried out for quar¬ 
ter. Sixty-three of the enemy fell in the struggle; the remaining five 
hundred and forty-three were made prisoners. Of the Americans only 
fifteen were killed and eighty-three wounded. In the days that followed 
the assault Wayne secured the ordnance and stores, valued at more than 
a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, then destroyed the fort and marched 
away. On the 20th a division of the British army, arriving at Stony 
Point, found nothing but a desolated hill. In honor of his brave deed 
General Wayne received a gold medal from Congress. 

5. Three days after the taking of Stony Point, Major Lee with a com¬ 
pany of militia attacked the British garrison at Jersey City. Again the 
assault was successful, the enemy losing nearly two hundred men. On 
the 25th of the same month a fleet of thirty-seven vessels, which had 
been equipped by Massachusetts, was sent against a British post recently 
established at the mouth of the Penobscot. The enterprise, however, was 


298 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


managed with little skill and less success. On the 13th of August, while 
the American ships were still besieging the post, they were suddenly 
attacked and destroyed by a British fleet. In the summer of this year 
an army of four thousand six hundred men, commanded by Generals Sul¬ 
livan and James Clinton, was sent against the Indians of the Upper Sus¬ 
quehanna. The atrocities of Wyoming were now fully avenged, and the 
savages driven to destruction. At Elmira, on the Tioga River, the In¬ 
dians and tories had fortified themselves; but on the 29th of August they 
were forced from their stronghold and utterly routed. The whole coun¬ 
try between the Susquehanna and the Genesee was wasted by the patriots, 
who, in the course of the campaign, destroyed forty Indian villages. In 
the latter part of October Sir Henry Clinton, alarmed by the rumored 
approach of the French fleet, withdrew the British forces from Rhode 
Island. The retirement from Newport was made with so much haste that 
the heavy guns and large quantities of stores were left behind. Such 
were the leading military movements in the North. 

6. Meanwhile, the war had continued in Georgia and South Carolina ; 
and the patriots had met with many reverses. At the beginning of the 
year Fort Sunbury, on St. Catherine’s Sound, was the only post held by 
the Americans south of the Savannah. On the 9th of January this fort 
was captured by a body of British troops from Florida, led by General 
Prevost. This officer then joined his forces with those of Colonel Camp¬ 
bell, who had just effected the conquest of Savannah, and assumed com¬ 
mand of the British army in the South. A force of two thousand reg¬ 
ulars and loyalists, commanded by Campbell, was at once despatched 
against Augusta; for there the republican legislature had assembled after 
the fall of Savannah. On the 29th of January the British reached their 
destination, and Augusta fell a prey to the invaders. For a while the 
whole of Georgia was prostrated before the king’s soldiery. 

7. In the mean time, the tories of Western Carolina had risen in arms 
and were advancing to join the forces of Campbell at Augusta. While 
marching thither they were attacked and defeated in a canebrake by 
the patriots under Captain Anderson. On the 14th of February the tories 
were again overtaken in the country west of Broad River. Colonel 
Pickens, at the head of the Carolina militia, fell upon them with such 
fury that the whole force was annihilated. Colonel Boyd, the tory leader, 
and seventy of his men were killed. Seventy-five others were captured, 
tried for treason and condemned to death ; but only five of the ringleaders 
were hanged. On receiving intelligence of what had happened, Campbell 
hastily evacuated Augusta and retreated toward Savannah. The western 
half of Georgia was recovered more quickly than it had been lost. 


MOVEMENTS OF 79. 


299 


8. While the British were retreating down the river, General Lincoln, 
who now commanded the American forces in the South, sent General 
Ashe with a division of two thousand men to intercept the enemy. On 
the 25th of February the Americans crossed the Savannah and pursued 
Campbell as far as Brier Creek, forty-five miles below Augusta. The 
bridge over this stream had been destroyed by the retreating British, and 
the patriots came to a halt. While they were delayed General Prevost 
marched with a strong force from Savannah, crossed Brier Creek above 
the American position, and completely surrounded General Ashe’s com¬ 
mand. A battle was fought on the 3d of March; the Americans, after 
losing more than three hundred men in killed, wounded and prisoners, 
were totally routed and driven into the swamps and river. The rem¬ 
nants of Ashe’s army rejoined General Lincoln at Perrysburg. The shock 
of this defeat again prostrated Georgia, and a royal government was 
established over the State. 

9. But the Carolinians rallied with great vigor. Within a month Gen¬ 
eral Lincoln was again in the field with a force of more than five thou¬ 
sand men. Still hoping to reconquer Georgia, he advanced up the left 
bank of the river in the direction of Augusta; but at the same time Gen¬ 
eral Prevost crossed the Savannah and marched against Charleston. On 
the 12th of May he summoned the city to surrender, but General Moultrie, 
who commanded the patriots, was in no humor to do it. Prevost made 
preparations for a siege; but learning that General Lincoln had turned 
back to attack him, he made a hasty retreat. The Americans pursued, 
overtook the enemy at Stono Ferry, ten miles west of Charleston, made 
an imprudent attack and were repulsed with considerable loss. Before 
retiring from the State, Prevost succeeded in establishing a post at Beau¬ 
fort, and then fell back to Savannah. From June until September 
military operations were almost wholly suspended. 

10. And now came Count d’Estaing with his fleet from the West Indies 
to Carolina to co-operate with General Lincoln in the reduction of 
Savannah. Prevost was alarmed, and concentrated his forces for the 
defence of the city. The storm-winds of the equinox were approaching, 
and D’Estaing stipulated with the Americans that his fleet should not be 
long detained on that coast devoid of harbors. On the 12th of September 
the French, numbering six thousand, effected a landing, and advanced to 
the siege. Eleven days elapsed before the slow-moving General Lincoln 
arrived with his forces. Meanwhile, on the 16th of the month, D’Estaing 
had demanded a surrender; but Prevost, who asked a day for consulta¬ 
tion and used it in strengthening his works and in receiving reinforce¬ 
ments from Beaufort, answered with a message of defiance. After Lin- 


30C 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


qoln’s arrival the siege was prosecuted with great vigor. The city was 
bombarded wellnigh to destruction; the people were driven into the 
cellars, and dared not venture forth on peril of their lives. But the 
British defences remained unshaken. At last the impatient D’Estaing 
notified Lincoln that the city must be stormed or the siege abandoned. 
The former course was preferred. On the 8th of October a conference 
was held, and it was determined to make the assault at daylight on the 
following morning. 

11. Accordingly, an hour before sunrise the allies advanced against the 
redoubts of the British. The attack was made irregularly, but with great 
vehemence; the defence, with desperate determination. The struggle 
around the ramparts was brief but furious. At one time it seemed that 
the works would be carried. The French and the patriots mounted the 
parapet and planted the flags of Carolina and France. But the emblems 
of victory, with those who bore them, were hurled into the dust. Here 
the brave Sergeant Jasper, the hero of Fort Moultrie, fell to rise no more. 
After an hour of the most gallant fighting, the allied columns were shat¬ 
tered and driven back with fearful losses. D’Estaing was twice wounded. 
The noble Pulaski was struck with a grape-shot and borne dying from the 
field. The repulse was complete, humiliating, disastrous. D’Estaing re¬ 
tired with his men on board the fleet and sailed for France. Lincoln 
with the remnants of his army retreated to Charleston. 

12. While the siege of Savannah was progressing, the American arms 
were made famous on the ocean. On the 23d of September Paul Jones, 
cruising off the coast of Scotland with a flotilla of French and American 
vessels, fell in with a fleet of British merchantmen, convoyed by two 
men-of-war. The battle that ensued was bloody beyond precedent in 
naval warfare. For an hour and a half the Serapis, a British frigate of 
forty-four guns, engaged the Poor Richard * within musket-shot. Then 
the vessels, both in a sinking condition, were run alongside and lashed 
together. The marines fought with the fury of madmen until the Serapis 
struck her colors. Jones hastily transferred his men to the conquered 
ship, and the Poor Richard went down. The remaining British vessel 
was also attacked and captured. So desperate was the engagement that of 
the three hundred and seventy-five men on board the fleet of Jones three 
hundred were either killed or wounded. 

13. So closed the year 1779. The colonies were not yet free. The 
French alliance, which had promised so much, had brought but little 
benefit. The credit of Congress had sunk almost to nothing; the national 
treasury was bankrupt. The patriots of the army were poorly fed, and 

* So named in honor of Dr. Franklin’s almanac. 


REVERSES AND TREASON. 


301 


paid only with unkept promises. The disposition of Great Britain was 
best illustrated in the measures adopted by Parliament for the campaigns 
of the ensuing year. The levies made by the House of Commons were 
eighty-five thousand marines and thirty-five thousand additional troops; 
while the extraordinary expenses of the War Department were set at 
twenty million pounds sterling. 


CHAPTER VII. 

REVERSES AND TREASON. 

D URING the year 1780 military operations at the North were, for the 
most part, suspended. Twice did the British under Knyphausen 
advance from New York into New Jersey; and twice they were driven 
back. Early in July Admiral De Ternay arrived at Newport with a 
French squadron and six thousand land-troops under Count Rocliam- 
beau. The Americans were greatly elated rt the coming of their allies; 
but Washington’s army was in so destitute a condition that active co¬ 
operation was impracticable. In September the commander-in-chief held 
a conference with Rochambeau, and the plans of future campaigns were in 
part determined. 

2. In the South there was much activity, and the patriots suffered many 
reverses. South Carolina was completely overrun with the invading 
armies. On the 11th of February Admiral Arbuthnot, in command of a 
British squadron, anchored before Charleston. Sir Henry Clinton and a 
division of five thousand men from the army in New York were on board 
the fleet. The plan of the campaign was to subjugate the whole South, 
beginning with Charleston. The city was defended by fourteen hundred 
men, under General Lincoln, who began his preparations by fortifying 
the neck of the peninsula. The British effected a landing a few miles 
below the harbor, advanced up the right bank of Ashley River, and 
crossed to the north of the city. A month was spent by Clinton in mak¬ 
ing cautious approaches toward the American entrenchments. On the 
7th of April General Lincoln was reinforced by seven hundred veterans 
from Virginia. Two days afterward Admiral Arbuthnot, favored by the 
wind and tide, succeeded in passing Fort Moultrie with his fleet, and 
anchored within cannon-shot of the city. A summons to surrender was 



302 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


answered by Lincoln with the assurance that Charleston would be 
defended to the last extremity. 

3. A siege was at once begun, and prosecuted with great vigor. Desir¬ 
ing to keep a way open for retreat, Lincoln sent a body of three hundred 

men under General Huger to scour the country 
north of Cooper Liver and rally the militia. 
Apprised of this movement, Tarleton with a 
legion of British cavalry stole upon Huger’s 
forces at Monk’s Corner, thirty miles north of 
Charleston, routed and dispersed the whole com¬ 
pany. The city was now fairly hemmed in, and 
the thunder ofktwo hundred cannon shook the 
beleaguered ramparts. From the beginning the 
defence had been hopeless, and every day the 
condition of the town became more desperate. 
Finally the fortifications were beaten down, and Clinton made ready to 
storm the American works; not till then did Lincoln and the civil 
authorities, dreading the havoc of an assault, agree to capitulate. On the 
12th of May the principal city of the South was given up to the British, 
and the men who had so bravely defended it became prisoners of war. 

4. A few days before the surrender Tarleton, who was ranging the 
country to the north and west, surprised and dispersed a body of militia 
who had gathered on the Santee. After the capture of the city, three 
expeditions were directed into different sections of the State. The Amer¬ 
ican post at Ninety-Six, a hundred and fifty miles north-west of the cap¬ 
ital, was seized. A second detachment of the British invaded the country 
bordering on the Savannah. Cornwallis with the principal division 
marched to the north-east, crossed the Santee and captured Georgetown, 
•near the mouth of the Great Pedee. Here he learned that Colonel Buford, 
with a body of five hundred patriots, who had left North Carolina for 
the relief of Charleston, was now retreating through the district north of 
Camden. Tarleton with seven hundred cavalry pressed rapidly across 
the country, overtook the Americans on the Wax haw, a tributary of the 
Catawba, surprised them, and, while negotiations for a surrender were 
pending, charged upon and massacred nearly the whole company. For 
this atrocious deed Cornwallis commended Tarleton to the special favor 
of the British Parliament. 

5. By such means the authority of Great Britain was re-established 
over South Carolina. As soon as the work was done, Clinton and 
Arbuthnot, with about half of the British army, sailed for New York. 
Cornwallis was left with the remainder to hold the conquered territory; 





REVERSES AND TREASON. 


303 


for it was the territory, and not the people, who were conquered. In this 
condition of affairs, two daring patriot leaders arose to rescue the repub¬ 
lican cause. These men, ever afterward famous, were Thomas Sumter 
and Francis Marion. Under their leadership the militia in the central 
and western portions of the State, especially on the upper tributaries of 
Broad River, were rallied, armed and mounted. An audacious partisan 
warfare was begun, and exposed detachments of the British army were 
swept off* as though an enemy had fallen on them from the skies. At 
Rocky Mount, on the Wateree, Colonel Sumter burst upon a party of 
dragoons, who barely saved themselves. On the 6th of August he attacked 
a large detachment of regulars and tories at Hanging Rock, in Lancaster 
county, defeated them and retreated. It was in this battle that young 
Andrew Jackson began his career as a soldier. 

6. The exploits of Sumter were even surpassed by those of Marion. 
His company consisted at first of twenty men and boys, white and black, 
half clad and poorly armed. But the number constantly increased, and 
the “ Ragged Regiment” soon became a terror to the enemy. Every 
British outpost was in peril. There was no telling when or where the 
sword of the fearless leader would fall. From the swamps at midnight he 
and his men would suddenly dart upon the encampments of the enemy, 
sweeping everything before them. When the British expected Marion 
in front, he would assail the rearguard with the utmost fury, and then dis¬ 
appear ; when they thought him hovering on their flank, he was a hun¬ 
dred miles away. During the whole summer and autumn of 1780 he 
swept around Cornwallis’s positions, cutting his lines of communication 
and making incessant onsets with an audacity as destructive as it was pro¬ 
voking. In the midst of this wild and lawless warfare, Marion preserved 
an unblemished reputation. Fifteen years afterward, when he lay on his 
deathbed, he declared that he had never intentionally wronged any man ; 
and it was truthfully written on his monument that he lived without fear 
and died without reproach. 

7. After the fall of Charleston, General Gates was appointed to com¬ 
mand in the South. With a strong force of regulars and such militia as 
would join his standard, he advanced across North Carolina, and at the 
beginning of August reached the southern boundary of the State. Lord 
Rawdon, who commanded the British posts in the northern parts of South 
Carolina, called in his detachments and concentrated his forces at Camden. 
Hither came also Cornwallis with reinforcements from Charleston and 
Georgetown. The Americans moved forward and took post at Clermont, 
thirteen miles north-west from Camden. By a singular coincidence Corn¬ 
wallis and Gates each formed the design of surprising his antagonist in. 


304 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


the night. Accordingly, on the evening of the loth of August, Gates set 
out for Camden, and at the same time Cornwallis moved toward Cler¬ 
mont. About daydawn the two armies met midway on Sander’s Creek. 

Both generals were surprised, 
but both made immediate 
preparations for battle. As 
soon as it was light the con¬ 
flict began. Steadiness and 
courage in all parts of the 
field would have given the 
victory to the Americans, but 
at the first onset the Virginia 
and Carolina militia broke 
line, threw their arms away 
and fled. For a while the 
Continentals of Maryland 
and Delaware sustained the 
battle with great bravery, but 
at length they were outflank¬ 
ed by Webster’s cavalry and 
driven back. The American 
officers made heroic efforts to 
save the day, but all in vain; the retreat became a rout. Baron de Kalb, 
the friend of La Fayette and fellow-sufferer with Washington at Valley 
Forge, remained on the field trying to rally his men until he was wounded 
eleven times and fell in the agony of death. More than a thousand of the 
Americans were killed, wounded or captured. The shattered remnants 
continued the retreat to Charlotte, North Carolina, eighty miles distant. 
The military reputation of Gates, which never had any solid foundation, 
was blown away like chaff, and he was superseded by General Greene, 
who, after Washington, was the best officer of the Revolution. 

8. Cornwallis was again master of South Carolina. A few days after 
the battle of Sander’s Creek, Sumter’s corps was overtaken by Tarleton 
at Fishing Creek, thirty miles north-west from Camden, and completely 
routed. Only Marion and his troopers remained to harass the victorious 
enemy. The triumph of the British was marked by cruelty and oppres¬ 
sion. Cornwallis visited the patriots with merciless severity, and the 
ruined State crouched at the feet of the conqueror. On the 8th of Sep¬ 
tember the British advanced from Camden into North Carolina, and on 
the 25th reached Charlotte, the Americans having retreated to Salisbury. 
While this movement was in progress, Colonel Ferguson, with a force of 






REVERSES AND TREASON. 


305 


eleven hundred regulars and tories, was sent into the country west of the 
Catawba to overawe the patriots and encourage the loyalists to take up 
arms. On the 7th of October, while Ferguson and his men were en¬ 
camped on the top of King’s Mountain, they were suddenly attacked by 
a thousand riflemen led by Colonel Campbell. The camp was surrounded; 
a desperate battle of an hour and a half ensued; Ferguson was slain, and 
three hundred of his men were killed or wounded; the remaining eight 
hundred threw down their arms and begged for quarter. On the morn¬ 
ing after the battle ten of the leading tory prisoners were condemned by a 
court-martial and hanged. During the remaining two months of the year 
there were no military movements of importance. Georgia and South 
Carolina were in the power of the British, and North Carolina was invaded. 

9. Meanwhile, the financial credit of the nation was sinking to the 
lowest ebb. Congress, having no silver and gold with which to meet the 
accumulating expenses of the war, had resorted to paper money. At first 
the expedient was successful, and the continental bills were received at 
par; but as one issue followed another, the value of the notes rapidly 
diminished, until, by the middle of 1780, they were not worth two cents 
to the dollar. To aggravate the evil, the emissaries of Great Britain 
executed counterfeits of the congressional money and sowed the spurious 
bills broadcast over the land. Business was paralyzed for the want of a 
currency, and the distress became extreme; but Robert Morris and a few 
other wealthy patriots came forward with their private fortunes and saved 
the suffering colonies from ruin. The mothers of America also lent a 
helping hand; and the patriot camp was gladdened with many a contribu¬ 
tion of food and clothing which woman’s sacrificing care had provided. 

10. In the midst of the general gloom the country was shocked by the 
rumor that Benedict Arnold had turned traitor. And the news, though 
hardly credible, was true. The brave, rash man, who, on behalf of the 
patriot cause, had suffered untold hardships and shed his blood on more 
fields than one, had blotted the record of his heroism with a deed of 
treason. After the battle of Bemis’s Height, in the fall of 1777, Arnold 
was promoted by Congress to the rank of major-general. Being disabled 
by his wound, he was made commandant of Philadelphia after the evac¬ 
uation of the city by the British. Here he married the daughter of a 
loyalist, and living in the old mansion of William Penn entered upon a 
career of luxury and extravagance which soon overwhelmed him with 
debt and bankruptcy. In order to keep up his magnificence, he began a 
system of frauds on the commissary department of the army. His bear¬ 
ing toward the citizens was that of a military despot; the people groaned 
under his tyranny, and charges were preferred against him by Congress. 


306 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


The cause was finally heard by a court-martial in December of 1779. 
Arnold was convicted on two of the charges, and, by the order of the 
court, was mildly reprimanded by Washington. 

11. Professing unbounded patriotism, and seeming to forget the dis¬ 
grace which his misconduct had brought upon him, Arnold applied for 
and obtained command of the important fortress of West Point on the 
Hudson. On the last day of July, 1780, he reached the camp and 
assumed control of the most valuable arsenal and depot of stores in Amer¬ 
ica. He had already formed the treasonable design of surrendering the 
fort into the hands of the enemy. For months he had kept up a secret 
correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton, and now the scheme ripened, on 
Arnold’s part, into an open proposition to betray his country for gold. 
It was agreed that on a certain day the British fleet should ascend the 
Hudson, that the garrison should be divided and scattered, and the fort¬ 
ress given up without a struggle. 

12. On the 21st of September Sir Henry Clinton sent Major John 
Andre up the river to hold a personal conference with Arnold and make 

the final arrangements for the surrender. 
Andre, through whom the correspondence 
between Arnold and Clinton had been car¬ 
ried on, was a former acquaintance of Ar¬ 
nold’s wife, and now held the post of adju¬ 
tant-general in the British army. He went 
to the conference, not as a spy, but wearing 
full uniform; and it was agreed that the 
meeting should be held outside of the Ameri¬ 
can lines. About midnight of the 21st he 
went ashore from the Vulture , a sloop of 
war, and met Arnold in a thicket on the 
west bank of the river, two miles below 
Haverstraw. Daydawn approached, and 
scene of Arnold’s the conspirators were obliged to hide 

trlasoin, 1780. themselves. In doing so they entered the 

American lines; Arnold gave the password, and Andre, disguising him¬ 
self, assumed the character of a spy. 

13. During the next day the traitor and his victim remained concealed 
at the house of a tory named Smith. Here the awful business was com¬ 
pleted. Arnold was to surrender West Point, its garrisons and stores, 
and to receive for his treachery ten thousand pounds and a commission as 
brigadier in the British army. All preliminaries being settled, papers 
containing a full description of West Point, its defences and the best 









''HE END. 


307 


method of attack were made out and given to Andre, who secreted the 
dangerous documents in his stockings. During that day an American 
battery drove the Vulture from its moorings in the river; and at night¬ 
fall Andre was obliged to cross to the other side and proceed by land 
toward New York. He passed the American outposts in safety; but at 
Tarrytown, twenty-five miles from the city, he was suddenly confronted 
by three militiamen * who stripped him, found his papers, and delivered 
him to Colonel Jameson at North Castle. Through that officers amazing 
stupidity Arnold was at once notified that John Anderson —that being 
the assumed name of Andre—had been taken with his passport and some 
papers "of a very dangerous tendency.” Arnold, on hearing the news, 
fled to the river and escaped on board the Vulture. Andre was tried by 
a court-martial at Tappan, and condemned to death. On the 2d of Oc¬ 
tober he was led to the gallows, and, under the stern code of war, was 
hanged. Though dying the death of a felon, he met his doom like a 
brave man, and after times have commiserated his sad fate. Arnold 
received his pay. 

14. In the dark days of December there came a ray of light from 
Europe. For several years Holland had secretly favored the Americans; 
now she began negotiations for a commercial treaty similar to that already 
existing between France and the United States. Great Britain discovered 
the purposes of the Dutch government; there were angry remonstrances, 
and then, on the 20th of December, an open declaration of war. Thus 
the Netherlands were added to the enemies of England; it seemed that 
George III. and his ministers would have enough to do without further 
efforts to enforce a stamp-act or levy a tax on tea. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

THE END. 

F OR the Americans the year 1781 opened gloomily. The condition 
of the army was desperate—no food, no pay, no clothing. Even the 
influence of Washington was not sufficient to quiet the growing discontent 
of the soldiery. On the first day of January the whole Pennsylvania 
line, numbering nearly two thousand, mutinied, left their camp at Morris- 

* John Paulding, David Williams and Isaac van Wart. Congress afterward rewarded 
them with silver medals and pensions for life. 



308 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


town and marched toward Philadelphia. General Wayne, after trying in 
vain to prevent the insurrection, went with his men, still hoping to con¬ 
trol them. At Princeton they were met by two emissaries from Sir Henry 
Clinton, and were tempted with offers of money, clothing and release from 
military service if they would desert the American standard. The mu¬ 
tinous patriots made answer by seizing the British agents and delivering 
them to General Wayne to be hanged as spies. For this deed the com¬ 
missioners of Congress, who now arrived, offered the insurgents a large 
reward, but the reward was indignantly refused. Washington, knowing 
how shamefully the army had been neglected by Congress, was not un¬ 
willing that the mutiny should take its own course. The congressional 
agents were therefore left to adjust the difficulty with the rebellious 
troops. But the breach was easily healed; a few liberal concessions on 
the part of the government sufficed to quiet the mutiny. 

2. About the middle of the same month the New Jersey brigade, sta¬ 
tioned at Pompton, revolted. This movement Washington quelled by 
force. General Robert Howe marched to the camp with five hundred 
regulars and compelled twelve of the principal mutineers to execute the 
two leaders of the revolt. From that day order was completely restored. 
These insurrections had a good rather than a bad effect; Congress was 
thoroughly alarmed, and immediate provisions were made for the better 
support of the army. An agent was sent to France to obtain a further 
loan of money. Robert Morris was appointed secretary of finance; the 
Bank of North America was organized; and although the outstanding 
debts of the United States could not be paid, yet all future obligations were 
promptly met, for Morris and his friends pledged their private fortunes 
to sustain the credit of the government. 

3. In the North military movements were begun by Arnold. On 
arriving at New York the traitor had received the promised commission, 
and was now a brigadier-general in the British army. In the preceding 
November, Washington and Major Henry Lee formed a plan to capture 
him. Sergeant John Champe undertook the daring enterprise, deserted 
to the enemy, entered New York, joined Arnold’s company, and with two 
assistants concerted measures to abduct him from the city and convey him 
to the American camp. But Arnold suddenly moved his quarters, and 
the plan was defeated. A month afterward he was given command of a 
fleet and a land-force of sixteen hundred men, and on the 16th of Decem¬ 
ber left New York to make a descent on the coasts of Virginia. 

4. Early in January the traitor entered James River and began war on 
his countrymen. His proceedings were marked with much ferocity, but 
not with the daring which characterized his former exploits. In the 


THE END. 


309 


vicinity of Richmond a vast quantity of public and private property was 
destroyed. The country along the river was devastated; and when there 
was nothing left to excite his cupidity or gratify his revenge, Arnold took 
up his headquarters in Portsmouth, a few miles south of Hampton Roads. 
Again Washington planned his capture. The French fleet, anchored at 
Newport, was ordered to sail for Virginia to co-operate with La Fayette, 
who was sent in the direction of Portsmouth with a detachment of twelve 
hundred men. But Admiral Arbuthnot, being apprised of the movement, 
sailed from New York and drove the French squadron back to Rhode 
Island. La Fayette, deprived of the expected aid, was forced to abandon 
the undertaking, and Arnold again escaped. 

5. About the middle of April General Phillips arrived at Portsmouth 
with a force of two thousand British regulars. Joining his troops with 
those of Arnold, he assumed command of the whole, and again the fertile 
districts of Lower Virginia were ravaged with fire and sword. Early in 
May, Phillips died, and for seven days Arnold held the supreme com¬ 
mand of the British forces in Virginia. That was the height of his trea¬ 
sonable glory. On the 20th of the month Lord Cornwallis arrived at 
Petersburg and ordered him to begone. Returning to New York, he 
received from Clinton a second detachment, entered the Sound, landed at 
New London, in his native State, and captured the town. Fort Griswold, 
which was defended by Colonel Ledyard with a hundred and fifty militia¬ 
men, was carried by storm. When Ledyard surrendered, the British 
officer who received his sword stabbed him to death; it was the signal 
for a massacre of the garrison, seventy-three of whom were murdered in 
cold blood; of the remainder, thirty were wounded and the rest made 
prisoners. With this bloody and ignominious deed the name of Arnold 
disappears from American history. 

6. Meanwhile, some of the most stirring events of the war had occurred 
at the South. At the close of the preceding year General Greene had 
taken command of the American army—which was only the shadow of 
an army—at Charlotte, North Carolina. Cornwallis had fallen back in 
the direction of Camden. Greene with great energy reorganized his 
forces and divided them into an eastern and a western division; the com¬ 
mand of the latter was given to General Morgan. In the first days of 
January this gallant officer was sent into the Spartanburg district of South 
Carolina to repress the tories and encourage the patriot militia. His suc¬ 
cess was such as to exasperate Cornwallis, who immediately despatched 
Colonel Tarleton with his famous cavalry legion to destroy Morgan’s 
forces or drive them out of the State. The Americans, apprised of Tarle- 
ton’s approach, took a favorable position at the Cowpens, where, on the 


310 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


17th of January, they were attacked by the British, eleven hundred strong. 
Tarleton, confident of success, made the onset with impetuosity; but Mor¬ 
gan’s men sustained the shock with firmness, and, when the enemy’s re¬ 
serves were called into action, either held their ground or retired in good 
order. At the crisis of the battle the American cavalry, commanded by 
Colonel William Washington, made a furious charge and scattered the 
British dragoons like chaff before them. The rout was complete—the vic¬ 
tory decisive. Washington and Tarleton had a personal encounter on the 
field, and the latter fled with a sword-gash in his hand. His corps was 
annihilated; ten British officers and ninety privates were killed, and five 
hundred and twenty-three were captured. Two pieces of artillery, eight 
hundred muskets and two flags were among the trophies of the battle. 

7. When Cornwallis, who was encamped with his army thirty miles 
down the Catawba, heard of the disaster to his arms, he made a rapid 
march up the river to reach the fords in Morgan’s rear. But Greene, 
who had also heard the news, hastened to the camp of Morgan, took com¬ 
mand in person and began a hasty retreat. At the same time he sent 
word to General Huger, who commanded the eastern division, to fall 
back toward Charlotte, where it was proposed to form a junction of the 
two wings of the army. On the 28th of January Morgan’s division 
reached the Catawba and crossed to the northern bank, with prisoners, 
spoils and baggage. Within two hours the British van arrived at the 
ford; but it was already sunset, and Cornwallis concluded to wait for the 
morning; then he would cross and win an easy victory. During the 
night the clouds opened and poured down torrents; in the morning the 
river was swollen to a flood. It was many days before the British forced 
their way across, dispersing the militia on the opposite bank. And now 
began a second race, this time for the fords of the Yadkin. 

8. The distance was sixty miles and the roads wretched. In two days 
the Americans reached the river. The crossing was nearly effected, when 
the British appeared in sight, attacked the rearguard and captured a few 
wagons; nothing else was injured. That night the Yadkin was made 
impassable by rains in the mountains, and Cornwallis was again delayed; 
Greene pressed forward to Guilfoid Court-House, where he arrived on the 
7th of February. The British marched up the Yadkin to the shallow 
ford at Huntsville, where, on the 9th of the month, they succeeded in 
crossing. The lines of retreat and pursuit were now parallel, and the two 
armies were less than twenty-five miles apart. A third time the race 
began, and again the Americans won it. On the 13th, Greene, with the 
main division, crossed the Dan into Virginia, and on the following day 
the American rearguard entered the boats and was safe. The British van 


THE END. 


311 


was already in sight and the whole army but a few miles distant. Never 
was a retreat more skillfully conducted. Cornwallis, mortified at his 
repeated failures, abandoned the pursuit and retired with his army to 
Hillsborough. 

9. Once in Virginia, Greene was rapidly reinforced. After a few days 
of recruiting and rest he felt himself strong enough to begin offensive 
movements. On the 22d of February he recrossed the Dan into North 
Carolina. Meanwhile, Cornwallis had despatched Tarleton with a body 
of cavalry into the region between the Haw and Deep Rivers to encourage 
the tories. Being informed of this movement, Greene sent Colonel Lee 
into the same district. Three hundred loyalists, already under arms, 
were marching to join Tarleton. On the route they were intercepted by 
the American cavalry, whom, supposing them to be British, they saluted 
with a shout of “ Long live the king!” Colonel Lee and his men quietly 
surrounded the unsuspecting tories, fell upon them as a band of traitors, 
and killed or captured the entire company. 

. 10. By the addition of the Virginia militia Greene’s army now num¬ 
bered four thousand four hundred men. Determining to avoid battle no 
longer, he marched to Guilford Court-House, took a strong position and 
awaited his antagonist. Cornwallis, accepting the challenge, at once 
moved forward to the attack. On the 15th of March the two armies met 
on Greene’s chosen ground, and a severe but indecisive battle was fought. 
The forces of Greene were superior in numbers, and those of Cornwallis in 
discipline. If the American militia had stood firm, the result would not 
have been doubtful; but the raw recruits behaved badly, broke line and 
fled. Confusion ensued ; the Americans fought hard, but were eventually 
driven from the field and forced to retreat for several miles. In killed 
and wounded the British loss was greatest; but large bodies of the militia 
returned to their homes, reducing Greene’s army to less than three thou¬ 
sand. Nevertheless, to the British the result was equivalent to a defeat. 

11. Cornwallis now boasted, made big proclamations, and then re¬ 
treated. On the 7th of April he reached the sea-coast at Wilmington, 
and immediately thereafter proceeded to Virginia. How he arrived at 
Petersburg, superseded Arnold and sent him out of the State has already 
been narrated. The British forces in the Carolinas remained under com¬ 
mand of Lord Rawdon, who was posted with a strong division at Cam¬ 
den. With him General Greene, after the departure of Cornwallis, was 
left to contend. The American army was accordingly advanced into 
South Carolina. A detachment was sent against Fort Watson, on the 
east bank of the Santee, and the place was obliged to surrender. Greene 
marched with the main body to Hobkirk’s Hill, a short distance north of 


312 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Camden, posted his men in a strong position and awaited the movements 
of Rawdon. What that officer would do was not long a question of doubt. 
On the 25th of April he moved from Camden with his entire force and 
attacked the American camp. For once General Greene came near being 
surprised; but his men were swiftly formed for battle; Rawdon’s column 
was badly arranged; and for a while it seemed that the entire British 
force would be slain or captured. Just at the critical moment, however, 
some valuable American officers who commanded in the centre were 
killed; their regiments, becoming confused, fell back; Rawdon saw his 
advantage, pressed forward, broke the centre, captured the hill, and won 
the day. The Americans retired from the field, but saved their artillery 
and bore away the wounded. Again the genius of Greene made defeat 
seem little less than victory. 

12. On the 10th of May Lord Rawdon evacuated Camden and retired 
to Eutaw Springs, sixty-five miles above the mouth of the Santee. The 
British posts at Granby, Orangeburg, Fort Mott and Augusta fell suc¬ 
cessively into the hands of the patriots. By the 5th of June only Eutaw 
Springs, Charleston and Ninety-Six remained in possession of the enemy. 
The latter place was already besieged by General Greene, who, after the 
battle of Hobkirk’s Hill, advanced to Fort Granby, and thence to Ninety- 
Six. For twenty-seven days the siege was pressed with vigor. The 
supply of water was cut off from the fort, and the garrison could not 
have held out more than two days longer; but Lord Rawdon was 
rapidly approaching with a force of two thousand men; and the Ameri¬ 
cans, after an unsuccessful assault, were obliged, on the 18th of June, to 
raise the siege and retreat. Rawdon pursued, but Greene escaped, as 
usual, and the British, abandoning Ninety-Six, fell back to Orangeburg. 
Greene, with ceaseless activity, followed the retreating enemy, and would, 
but for their strength, have assaulted Rawdon’s works. Deeming the 
position impregnable, the American general recrossed the Santee and took 
his station on the highlands in Sumter district. Here, in the healthful 
air of the hill-country, he passed the sickly months of summer. 

13. Sumter, Lee and Marion were constantly abroad, traversing the 
country in all directions, cutting off supplies from the enemy, breaking 
his lines of communication and smiting the tories right and left. Lord 
Rawdon now resigned the command of the British forces to Colonel Stuart 
and went to Charleston. While there he became a principal actor in one 
of the most shameful scenes of the Revolution. Colonel Isaac Hayne, an 
eminent patriot who had formerly taken an oath of allegiance to the king, 
was caught in command of a troop of American cavalry. He was at once 
taken to Charleston, arraigned before Colonel Balfour, the commandant, 


THE END. 


313 


hurried through the mockery of a trial and condemned to death. Raw- 
don gave his sanction, and on the 31st of July Colonel Hayne was hanged. 
Just men in Europe joined with the patriots of America in denouncing the 
act as worthy of barbarism. 

14. On the 22d of August General Greene left the heights of the Santee 
and marched toward Orangeburg. The British decamped at his approach 
and took post at Eutaw Springs, forty miles below. The Americans 
pressed after them and overtook them on the 8th of September. One 
of the fiercest battles 
of the war ensued; and 
General Greene was 
denied a decisive vic¬ 
tory only by the bad 
conduct of some of his 
men, who, before the 
field was fairly won, 
abandoned themselves 
to eating and drink¬ 
ing in the enemy’s 
camp. Stuart rallied 
his troops, returned to 
the charge and regain- 
e d his position. 

Greene, after losing 
five hundred and fifty- 
five men, gave over 
the struggle. The 
British lost in killed 
and wounded nearly 
seven hundred, and 
more than five hun- general greene. 

dred prisoners. On 

the day after the battle Stuart hastily retreated to Monk’s Corner; Greene 
followed with his army, and after two months of manoeuvring and de¬ 
sultory warfare the British were driven into Charleston. In the mean 
time, General St. Clair had cleared North Carolina by forcing the enemy 
to evacuate Wilmington. In the whole country south of Virginia only 
Charleston and Savannah remained under dominion of the king s army; 
the latter city was evacuated by the British on the 11th of July, and the 
former on the 14th of December, 1782. Such was the close of the Revo¬ 
lution in the Carolinas and Georgia. 



314 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


15. But the final scene was to be enacted in Virginia. There, in the 
last days of April, 1781, Cornwallis took command of the British army 
and began to ravage the country on both banks of the Janies. In the 
course of the following two months property, public and private, was 
destroyed to the value of fifteen million dollars. La Fayette, to whom 
the defence of the State had been entrusted, was unable to meet Corn¬ 
wallis in the field, but watched his movements with sleepless vigilance. 
While the British were in the vicinity of Richmond a detachment under 
Tarleton proceeded as far west as Charlottesville, where the Virginia 
legislature was in session. The town was taken, the country devastated, 
and seven members of the assembly made prisoners. Governor Jefferson 
escaped only by riding into the mountains. 

16. When there was little left to destroy, Cornwallis marched down 
the north bank of the James to Green Springs, eight miles above the site 
of Jamestown. He had received orders from Sir Henry Clinton to de¬ 
scend the river and take such a position on the coast as would keep the 
army within supporting distance of New York; for Clinton was very 
apprehensive that Washington and the French would attack him. La 
Fayette hovered upon the rear of Cornwallis; and on the 6th of July, 
when it was supposed that the main body of the enemy had crossed the 
James, General Wayne, who led the American advance, suddenly attacked 
the whole British army. Cornwallis was so surprised by the audacious 
onset that when Wayne, seeing his mistake, made a hasty retreat, no pur¬ 
suit was attempted. The loss of the two armies was equal, being a hun¬ 
dred and twenty on each side. After the passage of James River, the 
British marched to Portsmouth, where Arnold had had his headquarters 
in the previous spring. There Cornwallis would have fortified himself; 
but the orders of Clinton were otherwise; and in the first days of August 
the army was again embarked and conveyed to Yorktown, on the southern 
bank of York River, a few miles above the mouth. 

17. La Fayette quickly advanced into the peninsula and took post but 
eight miles distant from the British. From this position he sent urgent 
despatches to Washington, beseeching him to come to Virginia and aid in 
striking the enemy a fatal blow. A powerful French armament, com¬ 
manded by Count de Grasse, was hourly expected in the Chesapeake, 
and La Fayette saw at a glance that if a fleet could be anchored in the 
mouth of York River, cutting off retreat, the doom of Cornwallis would 
be sealed. During the months of July and August, Washington, from 
his camp on the Hudson, looked wistfully to the South. But all the while 
Clinton was kept in feverish alarm by false despatches, written for the 
purpose of falling into his hands. These intercepted messages indicated 


THE END. 


315 


that the Americans and French would immediately begin the siege of 
New York; and for that Clinton made ready. When, in the last days 
of August, he was informed that Washington had broken up his camp 
and was already marching with his whole army toward Virginia, the 
British general would not believe it, but went on preparing for a siege. 
Washington pressed rapidly forward, paused two days at Mount Vernon, 
where he had not been for six years, and met La Fayette at Williams¬ 
burg. Meanwhile, on the 30th of August, the French fleet, numbering 
twenty-eight ships of the line, with nearly four thousand .troops on board, 
had reached the Chesapeake and safely anchored in the mouth of York 
River. Cornwallis, with the British army, was blockaded both by sea 
and land. 

18. To add still further to the strength of the allies, Count de Barras, 
who commanded the French flotilla at Newport, sailed into the Chesa¬ 
peake with eight ships of the 
line and ten transports, bear¬ 
ing cannon for the siege. On 
the 5th of September the 
English admiral Graves ap¬ 
peared in the bay, and a naval 
battle ensued, in which the 
British ships were so roughly 
handled that they returned 
to New York. On the 28th 
of September the allied 
armies, superior in numbers 
and confident of success, en¬ 
camped around Yorktown. 

The story of the siege is brief. 

Tarleton, who occupied Glou- siege of yorktown, OCTOBER, 1781 . 

cester Point, on the other side 

of the river, made one spirited sally, but was driven back with severe 
loss. On the night of the 6th of October the trenches were opened at the 
distance of six hundred yards from the British works. The cannonade 
was constant and effective. On the lltli of the month the allies drew 
their second parallel within three hundred yards of Cornwallis’s redoubts. 
On the night of the 14th the enemy’s outer works were carried by storm. 
At daydawn of the 16th the British made a sortie, only to be hurled back 
into their entrenchments. On the next day Cornwallis proposed a sur¬ 
render ; on the 18th terms of capitulation were drawn up and signed; 
and at two o’clock in the afternoon of the 19th Major-General O’Hara— 



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316 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


for Cornwallis, feigning sickness, remained in his tent—led the whole 
British army from the trenches into an open field, where, in the presence 
of the allied ranks of France and America, seven thousand two hundred 
and forty-seven English and Hessian soldiers laid down their arms, de¬ 
livered their standards, and became prisoners of war. Eight hundred 
and forty sailors were also surrendered. Seventy-five brass and thirty- 
one iron guns were taken, together with all the accoutrements of the 
army. 

19. By a swift courier the news was borne to Congress. On the even¬ 
ing of the 23d the messenger rode into Philadelphia. When the sentinels 
of the city called the hour of ten that night, they added, “ and Cornwallis 
is taken.” On the morrow Congress assembled, and before that august 
body the despatch of Washington was read. The members, exulting and 
weeping for gladness, went in concourse with the citizens to the Dutch 
Lutheran church and turned the afternoon into a thanksgiving. The note 
of rejoicing sounded through the length and breadth of the land; for it 
was seen that the dominion of the Briton in America was for ever broken. 

20. After the surrender the conquered army was marched under guard 
to the barracks of Lancaster. Washington, with the victorious Americans 
and French, returned to the camps of New Jersey and the Hudson. On 
the Continent of Europe the news was received with every demonstration 
of gladness. In England the king and his ministers heard the tidings 
with mortification and rage; but the English people were either secretly 
pleased or openly rejoiced. During the fall and winter the ministerial 
majority in Parliament fell off rapidly; and on the 20th of March, 1782, 
Lord North and his friends, unable longer to conduct the government, 
resigned their offices. A new ministry was immediately formed, favor¬ 
able to America, favorable to freedom, favorable to peace. In the begin¬ 
ning of May the command of the British forces in the United States was 
transferred from Clinton to Sir Guy Carleton, a man friendly to American 
interests. The hostile demonstrations of the enemy, now confined to New 
York and Charleston, ceased; and Washington made no efforts to dis¬ 
lodge the foe, for the war had really ended. 

21. In the summer of 1782 Richard Oswald was sent by Parliament 
to Paris. The object of his mission was to confer with Franklin and 
Jay, the ambassadors of the United States, in regard to the terms of 
peace. Before the discussions were ended, John Adams, arriving from 
Amsterdam, and Henry Laurens from London, entered into the negotia¬ 
tions. On the 30th of November preliminary articles of peace were 
agreed to and signed on the part of Great Britain by Oswald, and on be¬ 
half of the United States by Franklin, Adams, Jay and Laurens. In 















































j 




THE END. 


317 


the following April the terms were ratified by Congress; but it was 
not until the 3d of September, 1783, that a final treaty was effected be¬ 
tween all the nations that had been at war. On that day the ambassadors 
of Holland, Spain, England, France and the United States, in a solemn 
conference at Paris, agreed to and signed the articles of a permanent 
peace. 

22. The terms of the Treaty of 1783 were briefly these: A full 
and complete recognition of the independence of the United States; the 
recession by Great Britain of Florida to Spain; the surrender of all the 
remaining territory east of the Mississippi and south of the great lakes to 
the United States; the free navigation of the Mississippi and the lakes 
by American vessels; the concession of mutual rights in the Newfound¬ 
land fisheries; and the retention by Great Britain of Canada and Nova 
Scotia, with the exclusive control of the St. Lawrence. 

23. Early in August Sir Guy Carleton received instructions to evacuate 
New York city. Three months were spent in making arrangements for 
this important event. Finally, on the 25th of November, everything 
was in readiness; the British army was embarked on board the fleet; the 
sails were spread; the ships stood out to sea; dwindled to white specks 
on the horizon ; disappeared. The Briton was gone. After the struggles 
and sacrifices of an eight years* war the patriots had achieved the inde¬ 
pendence of their country. The United States of America took an equal 
station among the nations of the earth. 

24. Nine days after Carleton’s departure there was a most affecting 
scene in the city. Washington assembled his officers and bade them a 
final adieu. When they were met, the chieftain spoke a few affectionate 
words to his comrades, who came forward in turn and with tears and 
sobs which the veterans no longer cared to conceal bade him farewell. 
Washington then walked to Whitehall, followed by a vast concourse of 
citizens and soldiers, and thence departed to Annapolis, where Congress 
was in session. On his way he paused at Philadelphia and made to the 
proper officers a report of his expenses during the war. The account was 
in his own handwriting, and covered a total expenditure of seventy-four 
thousand four hundred and eighty-five dollars—all correct to a cent. 
The route of the chief from Paulus’s Hook to Annapolis was a continuous 
triumph. The people by hundreds and thousands flocked to the villages 
and roadsides to see him pass; gray-headed statesmen to speak words of 
praise; young men to shout with enthusiasm; maidens to strew his way 
with flowers. 

25- On the 23d of December Washington was introduced to Congress. 
To that body of patriotic sages he delivered an address full of feeling, 


318 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


wisdom and modesty. Then with that dignity which always marked his 
conduct he surrendered his commission as commander-in-chief of the 
American army. General Mifflin, the president of Congress, responded 
in an eloquent manner, and then the hero retired to his home at Mount 
Vernon. The man whom, the year before, some disaffected soldiers were 
going to make king of America, now, by his own act, became a citizen 
of the Republic. 


CHAPTER IX. 

CONFEDERATION AND UNION. 

D URING the progress of the Revolution the civil government of the 
United States was in a deplorable condition. Nothing but the im¬ 
minent peril of the country had, in the first place, led to the calling of a 
Continental Congress. And when that body assembled, it had no method 
of proceeding, no constitution, no power of efficient action. The two 
great wants of the country were money to carry on the war and a central 
authority to direct the war: the former of these was never met; and 
Washington was made to supply the latter. Whenever Congress would 
move in the direction of a firmer government, division would spring up, 
and action would be checked by the remonstrance of jealous colonies. 
Nevertheless, the more far-seeing statesmen of the times labored constantly 
to create substantial political institutions. 

2. Foremost of all those who worked for better government was Ben¬ 
jamin Franklin. As early as the times of the French and Indian War 
he began to agitate the question of a permanent union of the colonies. 
During the troubled years just preceding the Revolution he brooded over 
his cherished project, and in 1775 laid before Congress the plan of a per¬ 
petual confederation of the States. But the attention of that body was 
wholly occupied with the stirring events of the day, and Franklin’s 
measure received but little notice. Congress, without any real authority, 
began to conduct the government, and its legislation was generally ac¬ 
cepted by the States. Still, the central authority was only an authority 
by sufferance, and was liable at any time to be annulled by the caprice 
of State legislatures. 

3. Under such a system thinking men grew restless. On the 11th of 
Tune, 1776, a committee was appointed by Congress to prepare a plan 



CONFEDERATION AND UNION 


319 


of confederation. After a month the work was completed and laid before 
the house. Another month was spent in fruitless debates, and then the 
question was laid over till the following spring. In April of 1777 the 
discussion was resumed, and continued through the summer. Meanwhile, 
the power of Great Britain being overthrown, the States had all adopted 
republican governments, and the sentiment of national union had made 
considerable headway. Finally, on the 15th of November, a vote was 
taken in Congress, and the articles of confederation reported by the com¬ 
mittee were adopted. The next step was to transmit the articles to the 
several State legislatures for ratification. The time thus occupied ex¬ 
tended to the following June, and then the new frame of government was 
returned to Congress with many amendments. These having been con¬ 
sidered and the most serious objections removed, the articles were signed 
by the delegates of eight States on the 9th of July, 1778. Later in the 
same month the representatives of Georgia and North Carolina affixed 
their signatures. In November the delegates of New Jersey, and in the 
following February those of Delaware, signed the compact. Maryland 
held aloof; and it was not until March of 1781 that the consent of that 
commonwealth could be obtained. Thus the Revolution was nearly 
ended before the new system was finally ratified. 

4. The government of the United States under the articles of con¬ 
federation was a democratic republic. It presented itself under the form 
of a Loose Union of Independent Commonwealths —a con¬ 
federacy of sovereign States. The executive and legislative powers of 
the general government were vested in Congress—a body composed of 
not less than two nor more than seven representatives from each State. 
But Congress could exercise no other than delegated powers; the sover¬ 
eignty was reserved to the States. The most important of the exclusive 
privileges of Congress were the right of making war and peace, the regu¬ 
lation of foreign intercourse, the power to receive and send ambassadors, 
the control of the coinage of money, the settlement of disputed boundaries 
and the care of the public domain. There was no chief magistrate of the 
Republic; and no general judiciary was provided for. The consent of 
nine States was necessary to complete an act of legislation. In voting 
each State cast a single ballot. The union of the States was declared to 
be perpetual. 

5. On the day of the ratification of the articles by Maryland the old 
Congress adjourned, and on the following morning reassembled under the 
new form of government. From the very first the inadequacy of that 
government was manifest. To begin with, it contradicted the doctrines 

of the Declaration of Independence. Congress had but a shadow of 
21 


320 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


authority, and that shadow, instead of proceeding from the people, 
emanated from States which were declared to be sovereign and inde¬ 
pendent. The first great duty of the new government was to provide 
for the payment of the war debt, which had now reached the sum of 
thirty-eight million dollars. Congress could only recommend to the 
several States the levying of a sufficient tax to meet the indebtedness. 
Some of the States made the required levy; others were dilatory; others 
refused. At the very outset the government was balked and thwarted. 
The serious troubles that attended the disbanding of the army were trace¬ 
able rather to the inability than to the indisposition of Congress to pay the 
soldiers. The princely fortune of Robert Morris was exhausted and him¬ 
self brought to poverty in a vain effort to sustain the credit of the govern¬ 
ment. For three years after the treaty of peace public affairs were in a 
condition bordering on chaos. The imperiled state of the Republic was 
viewed with alarm by the sagacious patriots who had carried the Revolu¬ 
tion to a successful issue. It was seen that unless the articles of confedera¬ 
tion could be replaced with a better system the nation would go to ruin. 

6. The project of remodeling the government originated at Mount 
Vernon. In 1785, Washington, in conference with a company of states¬ 
men at his home, advised the calling of a convention to meet at Annapolis 
in the following year. The proposition was received with favor; and in 
September of 1786 the representatives of five States assembled. The 
question of a tariff on imports was discussed; and then the attention of 
the delegates was turned to a revision of the articles of confederation. 
Since only a minority of the States were represented in the conference, it 
was resolved to adjourn until May of the following year, and all the 
States were urgently requested to send representatives at that time. 
Congress also invited the several legislatures to appoint delegates to the 
proposed convention. All of the States except Rhode Island responded 
to the call; and on the second Monday in May, 1787, the representatives 
assembled at Philadelphia. Washington, who was a delegate from Vir¬ 
ginia, was chosen president of the convention. A desultory discussion 
followed until the 29th of the month, Avhen Edmund Randolph intro¬ 
duced a resolution to set aside the articles of confederation and adopt a 
new constitution. There was further debate; and then a committee was 
appointed to revise the articles. Early in September the work was done; 
the report of the committee was adopted; and that report was the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States.* At the same time it was resolved 
to send copies of the new instrument to the several legislatures for ratifi¬ 
cation or rejection. 

* The Constitution was written by Gouverneur Morris, of Pennsylvania. 


CONFEDERATION AND UNION. 


321 


7. On the question of adopting the Constitution the people were divided. 
It was the first great political agitation in the country. Those who favored 
the new frame of government were called Federalists ; those who op¬ 
posed, Anti-Federalists or Republicans. The leaders of the former 
party were Washington, Jay, Madison and Hamilton, the latter statesman 
throwing the whole force of his genius and learning into the controversy. 
In those able papers called the Federalist he and Madison successfully 
answered every objection of the anti-Federal party. Hamilton was the 
first and perhaps the greatest expounder of constitutional liberty in 
America. To him the 
Republic owes a debt 
of perpetual gratitude 
for having established 
on a firm and enduring 
basis the true prin¬ 
ciples of free govern¬ 
ment. 

8. Under the Con¬ 
stitution of the United 
States the powers of 
government are ar¬ 
ranged under three 
heads — Legisla¬ 
tive, Executive 
and Judicial. The 
legislative power is 
vested in Congress— 
a body composed of a 
Senate and a House 
of Representatives. 

The members of the 
Senate are chosen by 
the legislatures of the 
several States, and serve for a period of six years. Each State is repre¬ 
sented by two Senators. The members of the House of Representatives 
are elected by the people of the respective States; and each State is en¬ 
titled to a number of representatives proportionate to the population of 
that State. The members of this branch are chosen for a term of two 
years. Congress is the law-making power of the nation; and all legis¬ 
lative questions of a general character are the appropriate subjects of 
congressional action. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 


322 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


9. The executive power of the United States is vested in a President, 
who is chosen for a period of four years by a body of men called the 
electoral college. The electors composing the college are chosen by the 
people of the several States; and each State is entitled to a number of 
electors equal to the number of its representatives and senators in Con¬ 
gress. The duty of the President is to enforce the laws of Congress in 
accordance with the Constitution. He is commander-in-chief of the 
armies and navies of the United States. Over the legislation of Congress 
he has the power of veto; but a two-thirds congressional majority may 
pass a law without the President’s consent. He has the right of appoint¬ 
ing cabinet officers and foreign ministers; but all of his appointments 
must be approved by the Senate. The treaty-making power is also 
lodged with the President; but here again the concurrence of the Senate 
is necessary. In case of the death, resignation or removal of the President, 
the Vice-President becomes chief magistrate; otherwise his duties are 
limited to presiding over the Senate. 

10. The judicial power of the United States is vested in a supreme 
court and in inferior courts established by Congress. The highest judi¬ 
cial officer is the chief-justice. All the judges of the supreme and inferior 
courts hold their offices during life or good behavior. The jurisdiction 
of these courts extends to all causes arising under the Constitution, laws 
and treaties of the United States. The right of trial by jury is granted 
in all cases except the impeachment of public officers. Treason against 
the United States consists only in levying war against them, or in giving 
aid and comfort to their enemies. 

11. The Constitution further provides that full faith shall be given in 
all the States to the records of every State; that the citizens of any State 
shall be entitled to the privileges of citizens in all the States; that new 
territories may be organized and new States admitted into the Union; 
that to every State shall be guaranteed a republican form of government; 
and that the Constitution may be altered or amended whenever the same 
is proposed by a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress and rati¬ 
fied by three-fourths of the legislatures of the several States. In accord¬ 
ance with this last provision fifteen amendments have been made to the 
Constitution. The most important of these are the articles which guarantee 
religious freedom; change the method of electing President and Vice- 
President; abolish slavery; and forbid the abridgment of suffrage on 
account of race or color. 

12. Before the end of 1788 eleven of the States had adopted the Constitu¬ 
tion. By its own terms the new government was to go into operation when 
nine States should ratify- For a while North Carolina and Rhode Island 


RECAPITULA TION. 


323 


hesitated, but their consent was finally obtained. In accordance with the 
provisions of the Constitution and a resolution of Congress, the first Wed¬ 
nesday of January, 1789, was named as the time for the election of a chief 
magistrate. The people had but one voice as to the man who should be hon¬ 
ored with that high trust. Early in April the ballots of the electors were 
counted in the presence of Congress, and George Washington was unani¬ 
mously chosen President and John Adams Vice-President of the United 
States. On the 14th of the month Washington received notification of his 
election, and departed for New York. His route thither was a constant tri¬ 
umph. With this auspicious event the period of revolution and confedera¬ 
tion ends, and the era of nationality in the New Republic is ushered in. 


RECAPITULATION. 


CHAPTER T. 

Importance of tlie Revolution.—The question decided by it.—Character of the contest. 
—The causes.—Great Britain claims the right of arbitrary government.—France incites 
the rebellion.—The disposition of the Americans encourages independence.—Public 
opinion leads to the same result.—The king provokes a conflict.—Parliament passes op¬ 
pressive acts.—The question of taxation.—Nature of the dispute.—The Importation Act. 
—Its provisions.—Writs of Assistance are issued.—And resisted.—The sugar and wine 
duties.—The colonists refuse to pay them.—A Stamp Act is proposed.—Indignation in 
the colonies.—The question of the Indian war-debt arises.—The Stamp Act is passed.— 
Its provisions.—The news is received in America.—The wrath of the people.—Scene in 
the House of Burgesses.—Patrick Henry’s speech.—Passage of the resolutions.—Other 
assemblies pursue a similar course.—The first Colonial Congress.—A Declaration of Rights 
is adopted.—Memorials to the king and Parliament.—The Stamp Act is resisted.—And 
the stamps destroyed.—Suspension of business.—The Sons of Liberty.—A non-importa¬ 
tion agreement is made.—The wrath of England.— Camden and Pitt defend the colonists. 
—Repeal of the Stamp Act.—Joy follows.—Townshend renews the scheme.—Secures the 
passage of a glass and tea-tax.—The Americans resist the act.—Circular of Massachu¬ 
setts.—Seizure of a sloop at Boston.—Insurrection of the people.—Gage takes possession 
of Boston.—Is ordered to arrest the patriots.—Rebellion of Virginia and North Caro¬ 
lina.—Conflict at New York.—The Boston massacre.—Repeal of the duties.—Passage 
of the Salary Act.—Burning of the Gaspee.—Stratagem of the ministry.—Tea is shipped 
to America.—Is spoiled at Charleston.—Refused at New York and Philadelphia.—And 
poured overboard at Boston.—Passage of the Port Bill.—Opposition of the Burgesses.— 
The charter of Massachusetts is annulled.—The people declared rebels.—The second Con¬ 
gress assembles.—Resolutions and addresses.—A British army is ordered to America.— 
Boston Neck fortified.—Military stores removed.—The assembly refuses to disband.— 
War becomes inevitable. 

CHAPTER II. 

The patriots remove their stores.—Gage plans to destroy them.—Pitcairn is sent for 
that purpose.—Dawes and Revere arouse the people.—The British reach Lexington.— 
Fire on the patriots.—Proceed to Concord.—Ransack the village.—Are attacked.—And 
driven back to Boston.—The country is fired.—The patriots gather at Cambridge.—Allen 
and Arnold march against Ticonderoga.—And capture the fortress.—The British are 
reinforced.—Proclamation of Gage.—His plans.—The Americans fortify Breed’s Hill.—■ 




324 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Amazement of the British.—The battle.—Excitement of the people.—The North Caroli¬ 
nians declare independence.—The Colonial Congress assembles.—An appeal to the king. 
—Washington commander-in-chief.—Sketch of his life.—His duties and embarrassments. 
—Organization of the army.—Royal rule is overthrown.—Struggle with Dunmore.—Ex¬ 
pedition against Quebec.—Led by Schuyler, Montgomery and Arnold.—Schuyler falls 
sick!—Montgomery takes Montreal.—Hardships of Arnold’s march.—He and Montgom¬ 
ery unite against Quebec.—The town is invested.—The assault and defeat.—Fall of 
Montgomery.—-The expedition is abandoned.—Sketch of Montgomery. 

CHAPTER III. 

The king answers the colonies.—Howe succeeds Gage.—Siege of Boston.—The Brit¬ 
ish evacuate the city.—The Americans enter.—Public rejoicings.—Washington goes to 
New York.—Clinton threatens the city.—Cornwallis and Parker proceed against Charles¬ 
ton.—Rising of the Carolinians.—The attack on Moultrie.—Repulse of the British.—Dis¬ 
tresses of the army.—Great Britain hires the Hessians.—And makes new levies.—Exas¬ 
peration of the patriots.—The question of independence.—Lee’s resolutions.—Debates.— 
A committee is appointed.—The Declaration of Independence adopted.—And received 
with enthusiasm.—Its leading principles.—Howe returns.—Lands an army.—Attempts 
to open negotiations.—And fails.—The British advance on Long Island.—Fight a battle. 
—And defeat the patriots —Washington saves the army.—Discouragement of the people. 
—The British take New York.—Negotiations are again attempted.—But fail.—Move¬ 
ments of the two armies.—Battle of White Plains.—Disposition of the American forces. 
■—Notice of Hamilton.—The capture of Fort Washington.—Fort Lee is taken.—The 
Americans retreat across New Jersey.—The pursuit ends.—Enlargement of Washington’s 
powers.—British successes in Rhode Island.—Lee’s capture.—Washington recruits his 
army.—Recrosses the Delaware.—Defeats the British at Trenton.—Effect of the battle.— 
Alarm of the British.—Robert Morris to the rescue.—Washington threatens the British 
posts. 

CHAPTER IV. 

The British advance against Trenton.—Washington withdraws his forces.—Attacks 
Princeton.—And wins a victory.—Takes post at Morristown.—The British at New Bruns¬ 
wick.—Cornwallis on the defensive.—Destruction of stores at Peekskill.—Lincoln at¬ 
tacked at Boundbrook.—Tryon burns Danbury.—Is attacked and driven away.—Meigs 
takes Sag Harbor.—Washington advances into New Jersey.—The British threaten Phil¬ 
adelphia.—Retire to Amboy.—Leave the State.—Barton captures Prescott.—Congress re¬ 
turns to Philadelphia.—Help from France.—Coming of La Fayette and De Kalb.—Plan 
of Burgoyne’s campaign.—The invasion begins.—Fall of Crown Point and Ticonderoga. 
•—The battle of Hubbardton.—Capture of Whitehall.—Fort Edward is taken.—Schuyler 
retreats to the Mohawk.—The British advance is impeded.—The battle of Bennington.— 
St. Leger besieges Schuyler.—Herkimer brings relief.—And is defeated.—Arnold ad¬ 
vances.—The Indians desert the British.—St. Leger retreats.—Discouragement of Bur- 
goyne.—Gathering of the Americans.—Burgoyne at Saratoga.—The first battle.—Critical 
condition of the British.—A diversion is attempted by Clinton.—But fails.—The second 
battle.—The Americans victorious.—Burgoyne is surrounded.—And driven to surren¬ 
der.—The army of the North relieves Washington.—The movement of Howe against 
Philadelphia.—He enters the Chesapeake.—The battle of Brandywine.—Retreat of the 
Americans.—Washington advances to Warren’s Tavern.—A storm prevents the battle.— 
Countermarching of the armies.—The British capture Philadelphia.—Congress adjourns 
to Lancaster.—Washington on Skippack Creek.—The battle of Germantown.—Capture 
of Forts Mercer and Mifflin.— The Americans at Whitemarsh.—Adventure of Lydia 
Darrah.—The British winter at Philadelphia.—The Americans at Valley Forge.—Sor¬ 
rows of Washington. 


RECAPITULA TION. 


325 


CHAPTER V. 

Silas Deane is sent to France.—His mission.—France favors the Americans.—Supplies 
are sent to the patriots.—Steuben arrives.—Lee and Franklin are appointed to negotiate 
a treaty.—Franklin’s influence at the French court.—A treaty is concluded.—Sketch of 
Franklin.—Arrival of D’Estaing’s fleet.—War threatened between France and England. 
—Effort of Great Britain for peace.—The British fleet at Philadelphia.—Withdrawal of 
the squadron.—The city evacuated:—Washington pursues.—The battle of Monmouth.— 
Lee disobeys orders.—Is court-martialed and dismissed.—British concentrate at New York. 
—The city is threatened by D’Estaing.—He sails against Rhode Island.—Sullivan co-ope¬ 
rates against Newport.—Howe follows D’Estaing.—Both squadrons shattered by a storm. 
—The siege of Newport.—Abandonment of the enterprise.—Destruction of American ship¬ 
ping.—Byron succeeds Howe.—Marauding of the British.—The Wyoming massacre.— 
Ruin of Cherry Valley.—The expedition of Major Clarke.—The French and British 
fleets sail away.—A force is sent against Savannah.—Capture of the city.—The situation. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Hardships of the soldiers.—Tryon’s expedition.—Is attacked by the militia.—Putnam’s 
exploit.—Fall of Stony Point and Verplank’s.—Insurrection in Virginia.—Tryon invades 
Connecticut.—Destruction of East Haven, Fairfield and Norwalk.—Stony Point is retaken 
by Wayne.—Lee captures Jersey City.—An American flotilla sails to the Penobscot.— 
Is ruined.—Sullivan ravages the Indian country.—The British evacuate Rhode Island. 
a —War in the South.—Fort Sunbury is taken.—Fall of Augusta.—Anderson defeats the 
tories.—Pickens gains a victory.—Augusta is evacuated.—Defeat of Lincoln’s army.— 
The militia rally.—Lincoln takes the field.—Threatens Augusta.—Returns to Charleston. 
—Is beaten at Stono Ferry.—Suspension of activity.—D’Estaing arrives.—Siege of Sa¬ 
vannah.—The unsuccessful assault.—Paul Jones’s victory.—Reflections. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Operations in the North suspended.—Ternay’s fleet arrives.—Campaigns are planned. 
—Arbutlinot and Clinton besiege Charleston.—The city is taken.—Ravages of Tarl^ton. 
—Plan of the British to conquer South Carolina.—Capture of Ninety-Six.—Cornwallis’s 
success.—Tarleton’s massacre.—South Carolina is subjugated.—Clinton returns to New 
York.—Marion and Sumter’s bands.—They scour the country.—Their victories.—Gates 
takes command.—The British at Camden.—Gates advances against them.—Is met and 
defeated.—Is superseded by Greene.—Sumter’s corps is broken up.—Cruelty of the Brit¬ 
ish.—Rawdon advances into North Carolina.—Ferguson’s tories are defeated.—Financial 
distresses.—Sacrifices of Morris.—The treason of Arnold.—Sketch of his career.—Andr§ 
is sent to a conference.—The interview.—Andr§ attempts to return to New York.—Is 
captured, condemned and executed.—Treaty with Holland. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Desperate condition of the army.—The Pennsylvania line revolt.—Mutiny of the Jer¬ 
sey brigade.—Robert Morris secretary of finance.—Champe attempts to capture Arnold.— 
Fails.—Arnold’s expedition to Virginia.—Second plan to capture him.—He becomes 
commander-in-chief in Virginia.—Is superseded.—And ordered out of the State.—Leads 
a band into Connecticut.—Captures Fort Griswold.—Greene in the South.—Advances 
into South Carolina.—Morgan at the Cowpens.—Is attacked by Tarleton.—But defeats 
him.—Cornwallis attempts to cut off Morgan’s retreat.—Greene takes command.—■ 
Crosses the Catawba.—Race for the Yadkin.—Greene wins it.—Race for the Dan.— 
Greene wins it.—Chagrin of the British.—Greene turns upon the enemy.—Lee disperses 
the tories.—Greene moves forward to Guilford.—Cornwallis attacks him.—An indecisive 
battle.—The British retreat to Wilmington.—Cornwallis goes to Virginia.—The Ameri¬ 
cans advance into South Carolina.—The battle of Hobkirk’s Hill.—The British retire to 


326 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Eutaw Springs.—The siege of Ninety-Six.—The place is abandoned by the enemy.—' 
Greene in the highlands.—Sumter, Lee and Marion overrun the country.—Execution of 
Hayne.—Greene advances against Eutaw Springs.—The battle.—The British retreat to 
Charleston.—The situation.—The campaign in Virginia.—Cornwallis ravages the State. 
—Marches down the James.—Is attacked by Wayne.—Proceeds to Portsmouth.—And 
thence to Yorktown.—The Army of the North comes down upon him.—The French fleet 
co-operates.—Yorktown is besieged.—And Cornwallis’s army taken.—Rejoicings.—Fall 
of the king’s party in Parliament.—Negotiations for peace.—A treaty is concluded.—Its 
terms.—Carleton supersedes Clinton.—Evacuation of New York.—Washington bids fare¬ 
well to his officers.—Retires to private life. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Bad condition of the government.—Its defects.—Franklin pleads for union.—A com¬ 
mittee appointed to prepare a Constitution.—The Articles of Confederation are adopted. 
—The colonies are slow to ratify.—The Confederation.—Defects of the same.—Chaotic 
condition of affairs.—A firmer Constitution is projected.—The convention at Annapolis. 
—Adjournment to Philadelphia.—The Constitution is reported to the convention.—And 
adopted.—The people divide on the question.—Sketch of Hamilton.—Character of the 
Constitution.—Amendments thereto.—Ratification by eleven States.—Washington is 
chosen President.—John Adams for the vice-presidency. 


PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES USED IN PART III. 

[E., English; F., French; G., German ; P., Polish ; I., Indian.] 


Andre [F.], fin-dra. 

Arbuthnot [E.], ahr-buth-nbt. 

Ashe [E.], fish. 

Balfour [E.], b&l-foor. 

Baum [E.], bawm. 

Baumarchais [F.], bo-malir-sha. 
Bernard [E.], b6r-nahrd. 

Burgoyne [E.], bur-goin. 
Cadwallader [E.], k£d-wahl-l&-d6r. 
Carleton [E.], kahrl-tim. 

Champe [E.], kftmp. 

Chaudiere [F.], sho-de-ar. 

Cherokee [I.], cher-6-ke. 

Cornwallis [E.], kawrn-wahl-lls. 

Darrah [E.], dahr-rah. 

De Barras [F.], dfi balir-rah. 

De Fleury [F.], du flur-I. 

De Grasse [F.], du grfis. 

De Kalb [F.], du kahlb. 

Delaplace [F.], dfi-l£-plfis. 
D’Estaing [F.], da-stfing. 

De Ternay [F.], du t£r-na. 

Ferguson [E.], fur-gft-sttn. 

Fraser [E.], fra-zgr. 

Gloucester [E.], glds-tgr. 

Hayne [E.], hail. 

Heister [G.], hls-t6r. 

Herkimer [E.], hur-kl-m8r. 

Jameson [E.], jfim-6-stin. 


Knowlton [E.], nol-tun. 

Knyphausen [G.], nep-how-s6n. 

Kosciusko [P.], k6s-sI-us-ko. 

La Fayette [F.], l£-fa-et. 

Ledyard [E.], led-yahrd. 

Leitch [E.], lech. 

Luzerne [Swiss], loo-zern. 

Macdougal [E.], mfik-doo-gfil. 

Magaw [E.], m£-gaw. 

Meigs [E.], megz. 

Moultrie [E.], mol-trl. 

O’Hara [E.], o-hahr-r£. 

Oswald [E.], os-wawld. 

Otis [E.], o-tls. 

Pigot [E.], pig-6t. 

Pitcairn [E.], pit-karn. 

Point au Trembles [F.], pw£n-to-trahmbk 
Prevost [E.], prev-ost. 

Pulaski [P.], poo-lahs-kl. 

Rahl [G.], rahl. 

Rawdon [E.], raw-diin. 

Revere [E.], re-ver. 

Rochambeau [F.], ro-sh£m-bo. 

Schuyler [E.], ski-lgr. 

Steuben [G.], stu-b6n. 

St. Leger [F.], s&n la-zha. 

Tarleton [E.], tahrl-ttin. 

Vaughan [E.], vawn. 

Vergennes [F.], vSr-zhen. 




PART V. 

NATIONAL PERIOD. 

A. 1>. 1789—1884. 


CHAPTER I. 


WASHINGTON’S ADMINISTRATION, 1789-1797. 


O N the 30th of April, 1789, Washington was duly inaugurated first 
President of the United States. The new government was to have 
gone into operation on 
the 4th of March, but 
the event was con¬ 
siderably delayed. 

The inaugural cere¬ 
mony was performed 
on the balcony of the 
old City Hall, on the 
present site of the 
Custom-House, in 
Wal 1 street. Chancel¬ 
lor Livingston of New 
York administered the 
oath of office. The 
streets and house-tops 
were thronged with 
people; flags flutter¬ 
ed ; cannon boomed 
from the Battery. As 
soon as the public cere- 
mony was ended, 

Washington retired to 
the Senate chamber 
and delivered his in¬ 
augural address. The organization of the two houses of Congress had 



"WASHINGTON. 


already been effected. 


327 





328 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


2. The new government was embarrassed with many difficulties. The 
opponents of the Constitution were not yet silenced, and from the begin¬ 
ning they caviled at the measures of the administration. By the treaty 
of 1783 the free navigation of the Mississippi had been guaranteed. Now 
the jealous Spaniards of New Orleans hindered the passage of American 
ships. The people of the West looked to the great river as the natural 
outlet of their commerce; they must be protected in their rights. On 
many parts of the frontier the malignant Red men were still at war with 
the settlers. As to financial credit, the United States had none. In the 
very beginning of his arduous duties Washington was prostrated with 
sickness, and the business of government was for many weeks delayed. 

3. Not until September were the first important measures adopted. 
On the 10th of that month an act was passed by Congress instituting a 
department of foreign affairs, a treasury department and a department of 
war. As members of his cabinet Washington nominated Jefferson, Knox 
and Hamilton; the first as secretary of foreign affairs; the second, of war; 
and the third, of the treasury. In accordance with the provisions of the 
Constitution, a supreme court was also organized, John Jay receiving the 
appointment of first chief-justice. Edmund Randolph was chosen attor¬ 
ney-general. Many constitutional amendments were now brought for¬ 
ward, and ten of them adopted. By this action on the part of Congress, 
the objections of North Carolina and Rhode Island were removed and 
both States ratified the Constitution, the former in November of 1789 
and the latter in the following May. 

4. The national debt was the greatest and most threatening question; 
but the genius of Hamilton triumphed over every difficulty. The in¬ 
debtedness of the United States, including the revolutionary expenses of 
the several States, amounted to nearly eighty million dollars. Hamilton 
adopted a broad and honest policy. His plan, which was laid before 
Congress at the beginning of the second session, proposed that the debt 
of the United States due to American citizens, as well as the war debt of 
the individual States, should be assumed by the general government, and 
that all should he fully paid. By this measure the credit of the country 
was vastly improved, even before actual payment was begun. As a 
means of augmenting the revenues of the government, a duty was laid on 
the tonnage of merchant-ships, with a discrimination in favor of American 
vessels; and customs were levied on all imported articles. Hamilton’s 
financial schemes were violently opposed; but his policy prevailed, and 
the credit of the government was soon firmly established. 

5. The proposition to assume the debts of the States had been coupled 
with another to fix the seat of government. After much discussion it was 








1789 


93 


97 


1801 


French 


Geor 


93. Reign of Te 

94. Fall of Robes 
ge III. 96. Gr 


Washington, 


91. Vermon 
the 

89. North Carolina rat 


90. Rhode Island 
90. Seat of govern 


92. K 

Wash 


91. 


1st. 


91. Bank of 


John Adams, Vice- 


Jo 

John Jay, Chief- 
Jefferson, Secret 
Hamilton, Sec 
Knox, Secre 


Revolution. 


94. Partition of 
93. Execution of Louis 
93. Fall of the Girond 


Napo 

97. Pinckney rejected 
Poland. 

XVI. 99. Overth 

ists. 99. Napole 


President. 


t admitted into 
Union. 

ifies the Constitution. 

96. Te 

ratifies the Constituti 


ment at Philadelphia. 


94. Wayne's 
93. Genet, French min 
entueky admitted into 

ingtOll re-elected 
Clair's defeat. 


the United States estab 


94. Whisky Insur 
95. Jay’s T 

President. 


hn Adams re-elected 
Justice, 
ary of State, 
retary of Treasury, 
tary of War. 


rror. 


pierre. 1800. 
eat political disturbanc 


1800. 

to 

nnessee admitted into 
on. 1800. 

John Adams, 

99. Washin 
98. War with Fra 


victory. 

ister at Washington, 
the Union. 99. Treaty 

President. 


lished. 


rection. 

reaty. 


Thomas Jefferson, 

Vice-President. 


leon Bonapar te. 

by the French Directo 
4. The 

row of the Directory. 

on,First Consul. . XT 
’ 4. Nap 


r y- 

great 1 


Bombardment of 
Copenhagen. 
Marengo. 


es in England. 


2. Ohio admitted 


Removal of the seat of 
Washington, D. C. 
the Union. 

Passage of the Alien 
President. 

gton dies at Mount Ver 
nee. 

4. Ha 


with France. 


Thomas J effer 


Vice-President. 





1. Aaron Burr, Vice- 
1. War with Tripoli. 


3. Commod 
3. Purchase 


oleon,II 
Tra 
6 . 
6. 

5. SH A 


into th< ! 
governn 

and Sedil 


non, a. 6, 


milton I 

6. :l 


son, r 

5. The s; 
lisli 


Jeffe 


Presiden 


George 

ore Prel 


of Loui 





































18 


17 


21 


1825 


8. The 
rebellion. 
7. Treaty of 

>eror. 

ar. 

| Jena. 
ckade of the 
erlitz. 


non. 


l Laws. 


9. Divorce of Josephi 
Peninsular War. 

IQ. Marriage of N 
Tilsit. to Maria 

12. In 

Orders iii Coun 


9. 


Wagrarn. 


coast from Brest to 
the Elbe. 


jd in a du 
r’s conspir 


if dent, 
m of patro 
n the pub 


>11 re-elec 


First stea 


11 . 


11 . 


James 

12. Su 
12. Su 
Tippe 
12. II 


The Pr 


14. Deposition of 

ne 14.LouisXVIII, 


Wa 


apoleon 15. 

Louisa. 

vasion of Ilussia. 
cil. 15. Treaty 

15. ltise of 


15. 


16. Pa 
Bomb 

15. War wi 


Napoleon. 

terloo, and banishment 


of Paris. 

the Radical Party in 
George IV. 
rliamentary reforms. 
ardment of Algiers. 


Madison, Presid 

rrender of Mackinaw, 
rrender of Detroit. 
canoe. 14. Hartford Co 
enry Dearborn appoin 


el. 

acy. 


12. Se 
12. W 


12 . 


George Clinton re- 
12 




Attack 

Passage 


nton, Vi 

nt to the 


nage estab- 
lic offices. 


ted President. 


12 . 

12 .] 

12 . 


12 . 

mboat on the Hudson 


on the Chesapeake, 
of the Embargo Act. 


ce-President. 

Mediterranean. 


14. 


Capture 


th Algiers. 


21. Napoleon dies. 

24. Charles X. 

of Napoleon. 


England. 


esident and Little Belt. 

Madison re-elec 

cond embargo, 
ar declared against Gr 

Fort Dearborn. 

elected Vice-President. 

14. Capture and 
Queenstown. 

The Constitution and 
14. Treaty of Gh 
The Wasp and the Frol 

The United States and 


The Constitution and 


13. 


12. Lo 


i Frenchtown. 


14. f® Fort Me 

16. In 
Fort Meigs. 


ent. 


nvention. 
ted commander-in-chi 
20. M 
the 

of York. 


ted President. 

eat Britain. 

18. The Seminole 
18. Capture of St. 


burning of Washingt 

James Monro 

the Gnerriere. 

ent. 

ic. 

the Macedonian. 


the Java. 

18. Illinois admit 


Henry. 

Daniel Tompkins, 

diana admitted into 


13. 

13. 

13. 

13 ‘. 

13. lyul The Hornet 
r ^ The Chtsapea 
uisiana admitted into 

Elbridge Gerry, Vi 


Perry’s victo 


The Thames. 

15. jOliVewOrtea 
Horseshoe Bend. 


13 . 


14. 

14. 


The Argus 
Lundy’s 

Plattsburg 


ef. 

aine admitted into 
Union. 


ry 


ns. 


19. Alabam 


in 


and the Peacock, 
ke and the Shannon. 
the Union. 
ce-President. 

and the Pelican. 

Lane. 

17. Mississippi admitt 
19. Florida 
United 


War. 

Marks and Pensacola. 

24. Vis¬ 
it of La 

on. Fayette. 

C, President. 

Monroe re-elect¬ 
ed President. 


21. Missouri admitted 
into the Union. 


ted into the Union. 


Vice-President, 
the Union. 

Tompkins re-elect¬ 
ed Vice-President. 

a admitted 
to the Union. 

21. Rise of the Slavery 
agitation. 

21. The Missouri Com¬ 
promise. 


ed into the Unir' 
ceded to the 
States. 




























































































































































WASHINGTON’S ADMINISTRATION. 


329 


agreed to establish the capital for ten years at Philadelphia, and afterward 
at some suitable locality on the Potomac. The next important measure 
was the organization of the territory south-west of the Ohio. In the 
autumn of 1790 a war broke out with the Miami Indians. Fort Wash¬ 
ington, on the present site of Cincinnati, had been established as the 
capital of the North-western Territory; and General St. Clair had re¬ 
ceived the appointment as governor. The Indians had fairly relinquished 
their rights to the surrounding country; but other tribes came forward with 
pretended claims, and went to war to recover their lost possessions. At 
the close of September, General Harmar, with fourteen hundred troops, 
set out from Fort Washington to chastise the hostile Miamis. After de¬ 
stroying several villages and wasting the country as far as the Maumee, 
he divided his army into detachments. Colonel Hardin, who commanded 
the Kentucky volunteers, was ambuscaded and his forces routed at a vil¬ 
lage eleven miles from Fort Wayne; and on the 21st of October the 
main division was defeated with great loss at the Maumee Ford. Gen¬ 
eral Harmar was obliged to abandon the Indian country and retreat to 
Fort Washington. 

6. In the beginning of 1791 an act was passed by Congress establish¬ 
ing the Bank of the United States. The measure originated with 
the secretary of the treasury, and was violently opposed by Jefferson and 
the anti-federal party. About the same time Vermont, which had been 
an independent territory since 1777, adopted the Constitution, and on the 
18th of February was admitted into the Union as the fourteenth State. 
The claim of New York to the jurisdiction of the province had been pur¬ 
chased, two years previously, for thirty thousand dollars. The first census 
of the United States, completed for the year 1790, showed that the popu¬ 
lation of the country had increased to three million nine hundred and 
twenty-nine thousand souls. 

7. After the defeat of Harmar the government adopted more vigorous 
measures for the repression of Indian hostilities. On the 6th of Septem¬ 
ber, 1791, General St. Clair, with an army of two thousand men, set out 
from Fort Washington to break the power of the Miami confederacy. 
On the night of November 3d he reached a point nearly a hundred miles 
north of Fort Washington, and encamped on one of the upper tribu¬ 
taries of the Wabash, in what is now the south-west angle of Mercer 
county, Ohio. On the following morning at sunrise his camp was sud¬ 
denly assailed by more than two thousand warriors, led by Little Turtle 
and several American renegades who had joined the Indians. After a 
terrible battle of three hours’ duration, St. Clair was completely defeated, 
with a loss of fully half his men. The fugitive militia retreated pre- 


330 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


cipitately to Fort Washington, where they arrived four days after the 
battle. The news of the disaster spread gloom and sorrow throughout 
the land. St. Clair, overwhelmed with censures and reproaches, was 
superseded by General Wayne, whom the people had named Mad 
Anthony. 

8. The population of the Territory of Kentucky had now reached 
seventy-three thousand. Only seventeen years before, Daniel Boone, the 
hardy hunter of North Carolina, had settled with his companions at 
Boonesborough. Harrodsburg and Lexington were founded about the 
same time. During the Revolution the pioneers were constantly beset 
by the savages. After the expedition of General Clarke, in 1779, the 
frontier was more secure; and in the years following the treaty thousands 
of immigrants came annually. In the mean time, Virginia had relin¬ 
quished her claim to the territory; and on the 1st of June, 1792, Ken¬ 
tucky was admitted into the Union. At the presidential election, held in 
the autumn of the same year, Washington was again unanimously chosen; 
as Vice-President, John Adams was also re-elected. 

9. During Washington’s second administration the country was greatly 
troubled in its relations with foreign governments. Europe was in an 
uproar. The French Revolution of 1789 was still running its dreadful 
course. After three years of unparalleled excesses, the Jacobins of France 
had beheaded the king and abolished the monarchy. Citizen Genet was 
sent by the new French republic as minister to the United States. On 
his arrival at Charleston, and on his way to Philadelphia, he was greeted 
with unbounded enthusiasm. Taking advantage of his popularity, the 
ambassador began to abuse his authority, fitted out privateers to prey on 
the commerce of Great Britain, planned expeditions against Louisiana, 
and, although the President had already issued a proclamation of neu¬ 
trality, demanded an alliance with the government. Washington and the 
cabinet firmly refused; and the audacious minister threatened to ajipcal to 
the people. In this outrageous conduct he was sustained and encouraged 
by the anti-Federal party, and for a while the government was endangered. 
But Washington stood unmoved, declared the course of the French minis¬ 
ter an insult to the sovereignty of the United States, and demanded his 
recall. The republican authorities of France heeded the demand, and 
Genet was superseded by M. Fouchet. 

10. During the summer /tnd autumn of 1794 the country was much 
disturbed by a difficulty in Western Pennsylvania known as the whisky 
insurrection. Hoping to improve the revenues of the government, Con-, 
gress had, three years previously, imposed a tax on all ardent spirits dis¬ 
ced in the United States. While Genet was at Philadelphia, h^ and 


WASHINGTON’S ADMINISTRATION. 


331 


his partisans incited the people of the distilling regions to resist the tax- 
collectors. The disaffected rose in arms. Washington issued two proc¬ 
lamations, warning the insurgents to disperse; but instead of obeying, 
they fired upon and captured the officers of the government. The Presi¬ 
dent then ordered General Henry Lee to enter the rebellious district with 
a sufficient force to restore order and enforce the law. When the troops 
reached the scene of the disturbance, the rioters had already scattered. 
The insurrection was a political rather than a social outbreak: the anti- 
Federalists were in a majority in the distilling region, and the whisky-tax 
was a measure of the Federal party. 

11. Meanwhile, General Wayne had broken the Miami confederacy. 
In the fall of 1793 he entered the Indian country with a force of three 
thousand men. Reaching the scene of St. Clair’s defeat, he built a 
stockade named Fort Recovery, and then pressed on to the junction of 
the Au Glaize and the Maumee, in Williams county, Ohio. Here he 
built and garrisoned Fort Defiance. Descending the Maumee to the 
rapids, he sent proposals of peace to the Indians, who were in council but 
a few miles distant. Little Turtle, more wise than the other chiefs, 
would have made a treaty; but the majority were for battle. On the 
20th of August Wayne marched against the savages, overtook them 
where the present town of Waynesfield stands, and routed them with ter¬ 
rible losses. The relentless general then compelled the humbled chief¬ 
tains to purchase peace by ceding to the United States all the territory 
east of a line drawn from Fort Recovery to the mouth of the Great 
Miami River. This was the last service of General Wayne. Re¬ 
maining for a while in the Indian country, he embarked on Lake 
Erie to return to Philadelphia. In December of 1796 he died on 
board the vessel, and was buried at Presque Isle. 

12. The conduct of Great Britain toward the United States became as 
arrogant as that of France was impudent. In November of 1793 George 
III. issued secret instructions to British privateers to seize all neutral 
vessels that might be found trading in the French West Indies. The 
United States had no notification of this high-handed measure; and 
American commerce to the value of many millions of dollars was swept 
from the sea by a process differing in nothing from highway robbery. 
But for the temperate spirit of the government the country would have 
been at once plunged into war. Prudence prevailed over passion; and 
in May of 1794 Chief-Justice Jay was sent as envoy extraordinary to 
demand redress of the British government. Contrary to expectation, 
his mission was successful; and in the following November an honor¬ 
able treaty was concluded. Not until June of 1795 were the terms of 


332 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


settlement ratified by the Senate and signed by the President. It was 
specified in the treaty that Great Britain should make ample reparation 
for the injuries done by her privateers, and surrender to the United States 
certain Western posts which until now had been held by English garri¬ 
sons. Thus was the threatened war averted. 

13. In October of 1795 the boundary between the United States and 
Louisiana was settled by a treaty with Spain. The latter country at the 
sapie time guaranteed to the Americans the free navigation of the Mis¬ 
sissippi. Less honorable was the treaty made with the kingdom of 
Algiers. For a long time Algerine pirates had infested the Mediter¬ 
ranean, preying upon the commerce of civilized nations; and those 
nations, in order to purchase exemption from such ravages, had adopted 
the ruinous policy of paying the dey of Algiers an annual tribute. In 
consideration of the tribute the dey agreed that his pirate ships should 
confine themselves to the Mediterranean, and should not attack the vessels 
of such nations as made the payment. Now, however, with the purpose 
of injuring France, Great Britain winked at an agreement with the dey 
by which the Algerine sea-robbers were turned loose on the Atlantic. 
By their depredations American commerce suffered greatly; and the 
government of the United States was obliged to purchase safety by 
paying the shameful tribute. 

14. In the summer of 1796, Tennessee, the third new State, was 
organized and admitted into the Union. Six years previously North 
Carolina had surrendered her claims to the territory, which at that time 
contained a population of thirty-five thousand; and within five years the 
number was more than doubled. The first inhabitants of Tennessee were 
of that hardy race of pioneers to whom the perils of the wilderness are as 
nothing provided the wilderness is free. By the addition of the two 
States south-west of the Ohio more than eighty-three thousand square 
miles of territory were brought under the dominion of civilization. 

15. Washington was solicited to become a candidate for a third election 
to the presidency; but he would not. His resolution had already been 
made to end his public career. With the Father of his Country the even¬ 
ing of life drew on, and rest was necessary. Accordingly, in September 
of 1796, he issued to the people of the United States his Farewell Address 
*—a document crowded with precepts of political wisdom, prudent counsels 
and chastened patriotism. As soon as the President’s determination was 
made known the political parties marshaled their forces and put forward 
their champions, John Adams appearing as the candidate of the Federal, 
and Thomas Jefferson of the anti-Federal party. Antagonism to the Con¬ 
stitution, which had thus far been the chief question between the parties, 


ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION. 


333 


now gave place to another issue—whether it was the true policy of the 
United States to enter into intimate relations with the republic of France. 
The anti-Federalists said, Yes! that all republics have a common end, 
and that Great Britain was the enemy of them all. The Federalists said, 
No! that the American republic must mark out an independent course 
among the nations, and avoid all foreign alliances. On that issue Mr. 
Adams was elected, but Mr. Jefferson, having the next highest numbei 
of votes, became Vice-President; for according to the old provision of 
the Constitution, the person who stood second on the list was declared 
the second officer in the government. 


CHAPTER II. 

ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION, 1797-1801. 

O N the 4th of March, 1797, President Adams was inaugurated. From 
the beginning his administration was embarrassed by a powerful and 
well-organized opposition. Adet, the French minister, made inflamma¬ 
tory appeals to the people, and urged the government to conclude a league 
with France against Great Britain. When the President and Congress 
stood firmly on the doctrine of neutrality, the French Directory grew 
insolent, and began to demand an alliance. The treaty which Mr. Jay 
had concluded with England was especially complained of by the parti¬ 
sans of France. On the 10th of March the Directory issued instructions 
to French men-of-war to assail the commerce of the United States. Soon 
afterward Mr. Pinckney, the American minister, was ordered to leave the 
territory of France. 

2. These proceedings were equivalent to a declaration of war. The 
President convened Congress in extraordinary session, and measures were 
devised for repelling the aggressions of the French. Elbridge Gerry and 
John Marshall were directed to join Mr. Pinckney in a final effort for a 
peaceable adjustment of the difficulties. But the effort was fruitless. The 
Directory of France refused to receive the ambassadors except upon con¬ 
dition that they would pledge the payment into the French treasury of a 
quarter of a million of dollars. Pinckney answered with the declaration 
that the United States had millions for defence , but not a cent for tribute. 
The envoys were then ordered to leave the country ; but Gerry, who was 



334 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



an anti-Federalist, was permitted to remain. These events occupied the 
summer and fall of 1797. 

3. In the beginning of the next year an act was passed by Congress 
completing the organization of the army. Washington was called from 

the retirement of his 
old age and appointed 
commander - in - chief. 
Hamilton was chosen 
first major-general. A 
navy of six frigates, 
besides privateers, had 
been provided for at 
the session of the pre¬ 
vious year; and a na¬ 
tional loan had been 
authorized. The pa¬ 
triotism of the people 
was thoroughly arous¬ 
ed; the treaties with 
France were declared 
void, and vigorous 
preparations were 
made for the impend¬ 
ing war. The Ameri¬ 
can frigates put to sea, 
and in the summer and 
john abams. fhll of 1799 did good 

service for the com¬ 
merce of the country. Commodore Truxtun, in the ship Constellation , 
won distinguished honors. On the 9th of February, while cruising in 
the West Indies, he attacked the Insurgent , a French man-of-war carry¬ 
ing forty guns and more than four hundred seamen. A desperate engage¬ 
ment ensued; and Truxtun, though inferior in cannons and men, gained 
a complete victory. A year later he overtook another frigate, called the 
Vengeance , and after a five hours’ battle in the night would have cap¬ 
tured his antagonist but for a storm and the darkness. These events 
added greatly to the renown of the American flag. 

4. Meanwhile, Napoleon Bonaparte had overthrown the Directory of 
France and made himself first consul of the republic. More wise and 
just than his associates, he immediately sought peace with the United 
States. His proposals were met with favor. Three American ambassa- 


A DA MS ’S A DMINISTRA TION. 


335 


dors—Murray, Ellsworth and Davie—reached Paris, after many delays, 
in the beginning of March, 1800. Negotiations were at once opened, 
and, in the following September, were happily terminated with a treaty 
of peace. In all his relations with the United States Napoleon acted the 
part of a consistent and honorable ruler. 

5. Before the war-cloud was scattered America was called to mourn 
the loss of Washington. On the 14th of December, 1799, after an illness 
of only a day, the venerated chieftain passed from among the living. All 
hearts were touched with sorrow. The people put on the garb of mourn¬ 
ing. Congress went in funeral procession to the German Lutheran church, 
where General Henry Lee, the personal friend of Washington, delivered 
a touching and eloquent oration. Throughout the civilized world the 
memory of the great dead was honored with appropriate ceremonies. To 
the legions of France the event was announced by Bonaparte, who paid 
a beautiful tribute to the virtues of “ the warrior, the legislator and the 
citizen without reproach.” As the body of Washington was laid in the 
sepulchre, the voice of partisan malignity that had not hesitated to assail 
his name was hushed into everlasting silence; and the world with un¬ 
covered head agreed with Lord Byron in declaring the illustrious dead to 
have been among warriors, statesmen and patriots 

“-The first, the last, the best, 

The Cincinnatus of the West.” 

6. The administration of Adams and the eighteenth century drew to a 
close together. In spite of domestic dissensions and foreign alarms, the 
new republic was growing strong and influential. The census of 1800 
showed that the population of the country, including the black men, had 
increased to over five millions. The seventy-five post-offices reported by 
the census of 1790 had been multiplied to nine hundred and three; the 
exports of the United States had grown from twenty millions to nearly 
seventy-one millions of dollars. The permanency of the Constitution as 
the supreme law of the land was now cheerfully recognized. In Decem¬ 
ber of 1800 Congress for the first time assembled in Washington city, the 
new capital of the nation. Virginia and Maryland had ceded to the 
United States the District of Columbia, a tract ten miles square lying on 
both sides of the Potomac; but the part given by Virginia was afterward 
re-ceded to that State. The city which was designed as the seat of govern¬ 
ment was laid out in 1792; and in 1800 the population numbered be¬ 
tween eight and nine thousand. 

7. With prudent management and unanimity the Federal party might 
have retained control of the government. But there were dissensions in 


336 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Mr. Adams’s cabinet. Much of the recent legislation of Congress had 
been unwise and unpopular. The alien law, by which the President was 
authorized to send out of the country any foreigners whose presence 
should be considered prejudicial to the interests of the United States, was 
specially odious. The sedition law, which punished with fine and im¬ 
prisonment the freedom of speech and of the press when directed abusively 
against the government, was denounced by the opposition as an act of 
tyranny. Partisan excitement ran high. Mr. Adams and Mr. Charles 
C. Pinckney were put forward as the candidates of the Federalists, and 
Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr of the Republicans or Democrats. The 
latter were triumphant. In the electoral college Jefferson and Burr each 
received seventy-three votes; Adams, sixty-five; and Pinckney, sixty-four. 
In order to decide between the Democratic candidates, the election was re¬ 
ferred to the House of Representatives. After thirty-five ballotings, the 
choice fell on Jefferson; and Burr, who was now second on the list, was 
declared Vice-President. After controlling the government for twelve 
years, the Federal party passed from power, never to be restored. 


CHAPTER III. 

JEFFERSON’S ADMINISTRATION, 1801-1809. 

A T the beginning of his administration Mr. Jefferson transferred the 
chief offices of the government to members of the Democratic party. 
This policy had in some measure been adopted by his predecessor; but 
the principle was now made universal. Such action was justified by the 
adherents of the President on the ground that the affairs of a republic 
will be best administered when the officers hold the same political senti¬ 
ments. One of the first acts of Congress was to abolish the system of 
internal revenues. The unpopular laws against foreigners and the free¬ 
dom of the press were also repealed. But the territorial legislation of 
Jefferson’s first term was most important of all. 

2. In the year 1800 a line was drawn through the North-west Terri¬ 
tory from the mouth of the Great Miami River to Fort Recovery, and 
thence to Canada. Two years afterward the country east of this line was 
erected into the State of Ohio and admitted into the Union. The por¬ 
tion west of the line, embracing the present States of Indiana, Illinois, 



JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 


337 



an, was organized under the name of 
Vincennes was the capital; and General 


Wisconsin and a part of 
the Indiana Territory. 

William Henry Har¬ 
rison received the ap- 
pointment of gov¬ 
ernor. About the same 
time the organization 
of the Mississippi 
Territory, extend¬ 
ing from the western 
limits of Geoigia to the 
great river, was com¬ 
pleted. Thus another 
grand and fertile dis¬ 
trict of a hundred 
thousand square miles 
was reclaimed from 
barbarism. 

3. More important 
still was the purchase 
of Louisiana. In 1800 
Napoleon had com¬ 
pelled Spain to make 
a secret cession of this 
vast territory to 
France. The First 

Consul then prepared to send an army to New Orleans tor the purpose 
of establishing his authority. But the government of the United States 
remonstrated against such a proceeding; France was threatened with 
multiplied wars at home; and Bonaparte, seeing the difficulty of main¬ 
taining a colonial empire at so great a distance, authorized his minister 
to dispose of Louisiana by sale. The President appointed Mr. Living¬ 
ston and James Monroe to negotiate the purchase. On the 30th of 
April, 1803, the terms of transfer were agreed on by the agents of the 
two nations; and for the sum of eleven million two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars Louisiana was ceded to the United States.* In another 
convention, which was signed on the same day, it was agreed that the 
government of the United States should assume the payment of certain 

* Bonaparte accepted in payment six per cent, bonds of the United States, payable 
fifteen years after date. He also agreed not to sell the bonds at such a price as would 
degrade the credit of the American government. 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 




338 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


debts due from France to American citizens; but the sum thus assumed 
should not, inclusive of interest, exceed three million seven hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars. Thus did the vast domain west of the Mississippi, 
embracing an area of more than a million square miles, pass under the 
dominion of the United States. 

4. The purchase of Louisiana was the greatest event of Jefferson’s ad¬ 
ministration. Out of the southern portion of the new acquisition the 
Territory of Orleans was organized, with the same limits as the 
present State of Louisiana; the rest of the vast tract continued to be 
called the Territory of Louisiana. The possession of the Missis¬ 
sippi was no longer a matter of dispute. Very justly did Mr. Livingston 
say to the French minister as they arose from signing the treaty: “ We 
have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives.” 



5. Two years previous to these events John Marshall had been nomi¬ 
nated and confirmed as chief-justice of the United States. His appoint¬ 
ment marks an epoch 
in the history of the 
country. In the colo¬ 
nial times the English 
constitution and com¬ 
mon law had prevail¬ 
ed in America, and 
judicial decisions were 
based exclusively on 
precedents established 
in English courts. 
When, in 1789, the 
new republic was or¬ 
ganized, it became 
necessary to modify to 
a certain extent the 
principles of jurispru¬ 
dence and to adapt 
them to the altered 
theory of government. 
In some measure this 
great work was under- 


CHIEF-JUSTICE MARSHALL. 


taken by Chief-Justice 


Jay; but he was a 

great statesman rather than a great judge. It remained for Chief-Justice 
Marshall to establish on a firm and enduring basis the noble structure 




JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRA TION. 


339 


of American law. For thirty-five years lie remained in his high office, 
bequeathing to after times a great number of valuable decisions, in which 
the principles of the jurisprudence of the United States are set forth with 
unvarying clearness and invincible logic. 

6. The Mediterranean pirates still annoyed American merchantmen. 
All of the Barbary States—as the Moorish kingdoms of Northern Africa 
are called—had adopted the plan of extorting annual tributes from the 
European nations. The emperors of Morocco, Algiers and Tripoli became 
especially arrogant. In 1803 the government of the United States de¬ 
spatched Commodore Preble to the Mediterranean to protect American 
commerce and punish the hostile powers. The armament proceeded first 
against Morocco; but the frigate Philadelphia , commanded by Captain 
Bainbridge, was sent directly to Tripoli. When nearing his destination, 
Bainbridge gave chase to a pirate which fled for safety to the batteries of 
the hafbor. The Philadelphia , in close pursuit, ran upon a reef of rocks 
near the shore, became unmanageable, and was captured by the Tripoli¬ 
tans. The crew and officers were taken; the latter were treated with 
some respect, but the former were enslaved. The emperor Yusef and his 
barbarous subjects were greatly elated at their unexpected success. 

7. In the following February Captain Decatur recaptured the Phila¬ 
delphia in a marvelous manner. Sailing from Sicily in a small vessel 
called the Intrepid , he came at nightfall in sight of the harbor of Tripoli, 
where the Philadelphia was moored. The Intrepid , being a Moorish ship 
which the American fleet had captured, was either unseen or unsuspected 
by the Tripolitans. As darkness settled on the sea, Decatur steered his 
course into the harbor, slipped alongside of the Philadelphia, lashed the 
two ships together, sprang on deck with his daring crew of only seventy- 
four men, and killed or drove overboard every Moor on the vessel. In 
a moment the frigate was fired, for it was the purpose to destroy her; 
then Decatur and his men, escaping from the flames, returned to the 
Intrepid and sailed out of the harbor amid a storm of balls from the 
Tripolitan batteries. Not a man of Decatur’s gallant band was lost, and 
only four were wounded. 

8. In the last of July, 1804, Commodore Preble arrived with his fleet 
at Tripoli and began a blockade and siege which lasted till the following 
spring. The town was frequently bombarded, and several Moorish ves¬ 
sels were destroyed. In the mean time, William Eaton, the American 
consul at Tunis, had organized a force in that kingdom, and was marching 
overland to Tripoli. Yusef’s elder brother, Hamet, who was the rightful 
sovereign of Tripoli, was co-operating with Eaton in an effort to recover 
his kingdom. Yusef, alarmed at tne dangers which menaced him by sea 


340 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


and land, made hasty overtures for peace. His offers were accepted by Mr. 
Lear, the American consul-general for the Barbary States; and a treaty 
was concluded on the 4th of June, 1805.* For several years thereafter 
the flag of the United States was respected in the Mediterranean. 

9. In the summer of 1804 the country was shocked by the intelligence 
that Vice-President Burr had killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. As 
the first term of Mr. Jefferson drew to a close, Burr foresaw that the 
President would be renominated, and that he himself would not be re¬ 
nominated. Still, he had his eye on the presidency, and was determined 
not to be baffled. He therefore, while holding the office of Vice-Presi¬ 
dent, became a candidate for governor of New York. From that posi¬ 
tion he would pass to the presidency at the close of Jefferson’s second 
term. But Hamilton’s powerful influence in New York prevented Burr’s 
election; and his presidential ambition received a stunning blow. From 
that day he determined to kill the man whom he pretended to regard as 
the destroyer of his hopes. He accordingly sought a quarrel with Hamil¬ 
ton; challenged him; met him at Weehawken, opposite New York, on 
the morning of the 11th of July, and deliberately murdered him; for 
Hamilton had tried to avoid the challenge, and when face to face with 
his antagonist refused to fire. Thus under the savage and abominable 
custom of dueling the brightest intellect in America was put out in 
darkness. 

10. In the autumn of 1804 Jefferson was re-elected President. For 
Vice-President George Clinton of New York was chosen in place of 
Burr. In the following year that part of the North-western Territory 
called Wayne county was organized under a separate territorial govern¬ 
ment with the name of Michigan. In the same spring, Captains Lewis 
and Clarke, acting under orders of the President, set out from the falls 
of the Missouri River with a party of thirty-five soldiers and hunters to 
cross the Rocky Mountains and explore Oregon. Not until November 
did they reach their destination. For two years, through forests of gigantic 
pines, along the banks of unknown rivers and down to the shores of the 
Pacific, did they continue their explorations. After wandering among 
unheard-of tribes of barbarians, encountering grizzly bears more ferocious 
than Bengal tigers, escaping perils by forest and flood, and traversing a 
route of six thousand miles, the hardy adventurers, with the loss of but 
one man, returned to civilization, bringing new ideas of the vast domains 
of the West. 

* It is a matter of astonishment that Lear agreed to pay Yusef sixty thousand dollars 
fbr the liberation of American slaves: their liberation ought to have been compelled 
and might have been if Lear had said so. 


JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION 


341 


11. After the death of Hamilton, Burr fled from popular indignation 
and sought refuge in the South. At the opening of the next session of 
Congress he returned to the capital, and presided over the Senate until 
the expiration of his term of office. Then he delivered his valedictory, 
went to the West, and, after traveling through several States, took up his 
residence with an Irish exile named Harman Blannerhassett, who had 
laid out an estate qnd built a splendid mansion on an island in the Ohio, 
just below the mouth of the Muskingum. Here Burr made a wicked 
and treasonable scheme against the peace and happiness of the country. 
His plan was to raise a sufficient military force, invade Mexico, wrest that 
country from the Spaniards, detach the Western and Southern States from 
the Union, make himself dictator of a South-western empire, and perhaps 
subvert the government of the United States. For two years he labored 
to perfect his plans. But his purposes were suspected. In accordance 
with a proclamation of the President, the military preparations at Blan- 
nerhassett’s Island were broken up; and in February of 1807 Burr him¬ 
self was arrested in Alabama and taken to Richmond to be tried on a 
charge of treason. Chief-Justice Marshall presided at the trial, and Burr 
conducted his own defence. The verdict was, “ Not guilty, for want of 
sufficient proof.” But his escape was so narrow that under an assumed 
name he fled from the country. Returning a few years afterward, he re¬ 
sumed the practice of law in New York, lived to extreme old age, and 
died alone in abject poverty. 

12. During Jefferson’s second administration the country was con¬ 
stantly agitated by the aggressions of the British navy on American com¬ 
merce. England and France were engaged in deadly and continuous war. 
In order to cripple the resources of their enemy, the British authorities 
struck blow after blow against the trade between France and foreign 
nations; and Napoleon retaliated with equal energy and vindictiveness 
against the commerce of Great Britain. The measures adopted by the 
two powers took the form of blockade—that is, the surrounding of each 
other’s ports with men-of-war to prevent the ingress and egress of neutral 
ships. By such means the commerce of the United States, which had 
grown vast and valuable while the European nations were fighting, was 
greatly injured and distressed. 

13. In May of 1806 England declared the whole coast of France from 
Brest to the Elbe to be in a state of blockade. Neutral nations had no 
warning. Many American vessels, approaching the French ports, were 
seized and condemned as prizes; all this, too, while the harbors of France 
were not actually, but only declared to be, blockaded. In the following 
November Bonaparte issued a decree blockading the British isles. Again 


342 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


the unsuspecting merchantmen of the United States were subjected to 
seizure, this time by the cruisers of France. In January of the next year 
the government of Great Britain retaliated by an act prohibiting the 
French coasting-trade. Every one of these measures was in flagrant 
violation of the laws of nations. The belligerent poAvers had no right to 
take such steps toward each other; as to neutral States, their rights were 
utterly disregarded; and the nation that suffered most Avas the United 
States. 

14. Great Britain aggravated her injustice by a still more arrogant 
procedure. The English theory of citizenship is that Avhoever is born in 
England remains through life a subject of the British empire. Under 
this claim English cruisers Avere authorized to search American vessels 
and to take therefrom all persons suspected of being British subjects. 
Those Avho A\ T ere taken Avere, Avithout inquiry, impressed as seamen in the 
English navy; and that was the real object of the whole shameful busi¬ 
ness. To these general Avrongs Avas added a special act of Auoletice which 
kindled the indignation of the Americans to the highest pitch. 

15. On the 22d of June, 1807, a frigate, named the Chesapeake , Avhich 
had just sailed out of the bay of the same name, Avas approached by a 
British man-of-war, called the Leopard. The frigate Avas hailed; British 
officers came on board as friends, and then, to the astonishment of Com¬ 
modore Barron, who commanded the Chesapeake , made a demand to 
search the vessel for deserters. The demand Avas indignantly refused and 
the ship cleared for action. But before the guns could be gotten in readi¬ 
ness, the Leopard poured in several destructive broadsides and compelled 
a surrender. Four men were taken from the captured ship, three of 
Avhom proved to be American citizens; the fourth, avIio Avas an actual 
deserter, was tried by the British naval officers and hanged. The govern¬ 
ment of Great Britain disavoAved the outrage of the Leopard , and promised 
reparation ; but the promise Avas ne\ 7 er fulfilled. 

16. The President at once issued a proclamation forbidding British 
ships of Avar to enter the harbors of the United States. Still, there Avas 
no reparation; and on the 21st of December Congress passed the cele¬ 
brated Embargo Act. By its provisions all American vessels were 
detained in the ports of the United States. The object Avas, by cutting 
off commercial intercourse with France and Great Britain, to compel 
them to recognize the rights of American neutrality. But the measure 
Avas of little avail; and after fourteen months the embargo act was re¬ 
pealed.* Meanwhile, in November of 1808, the British goA^ernment out- 

* The embargo act was the subject of much ridicule. The opponents of the measure, 
spelling the word backward, called it the 0 grab me act. 


JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRA TION. 


343 


did all previous proceedings by issuing an “ order in council,” pro¬ 
hibiting all trade with France and her allies. And Napoleon, not to 
be outdone, issued his famous “ Milam decree,” forbidding all commerce 
with England and her colonies. Between these outrageous acts of foreign 
nations and the American embargo, the commerce of the United States 
was well nigh crushed out of existence. 

17. While the country was distracted with these troubles Robert Ful¬ 
ton was building the first steamboat. This event exercised a vast 
influence on the future 



development of the 
nation. It was of the 
first importance to the 
people of the inland 
States that their great 
rivers should be en¬ 
livened with rapid and 
regular navigation. 

This, without the ap¬ 
plication of steam, was 
impossible; and this 
F u 11 o n successfully 
accomplished. In¬ 
deed, the steamboat 
was the harbinger of' 
a new era in civiliza¬ 
tion. Fulton was an 
Irishman by descent 
and a Pennsylvanian 
by birth. His educa¬ 
tion was meagre and robert fulton. 

imperfect. In his 
boyhood he became a 

painter of miniatures at Philadelphia. His friends sent him to London 
to receive instruction from Benjamin West; but his tastes led him to the 
useful rather than to the fine arts. From London he went to Paris, 
where he became acquainted with Chancellor Livingston; and there he 
conceived the project of applying steam to the purposes of navigation. 
Returning to New York, he began the construction of a steamboat in 
East River. When the ungainly craft was completed and brought around 
to the Jersey side of the city, Fulton invited his friends to go on board 
and enjoy a trip to Albany. It was the 2d of September, 1807. The in- 



344 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


credulous crowds stood staring on the shore. The word was given, and 
the boat did not move. Fulton went below. Again the word was given, 
and this time the boat moved. On the next day the happy company 
reached Albany. For many years this first rude steamer, called the 
Clermont , plied the Hudson. The old methods of river navigation were 
revolutionized. 

18. Jefferson’s administration drew to a close. The territorial area of 
the United States had been vastly extended. Burr’s wicked and dan¬ 
gerous conspiracy had come to naught. Pioneers were pouring into the 
valley of the Mississippi. Explorers had crossed the mountains of the 
great West. The woods by the river-shores resounded with the cry of 
steam. But the foreign relations of the United States were troubled and 
gloomy. There were forebodings of war. The President, following the 
example of Washington, declined a third election, and was succeeded in 
his high office by James Madison of Virginia. For Vice-President 
George Clinton was re-elected. 


CHAPTER IV. 

MADISON’S ADMINISTRATION AND WAR OF 1812. 

T HE new President was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1809. He 
had been a member of the Continental Congress, a delegate to the 
Constitutional Convention of 1787, and secretary of state under Jefferson. 
Long familiarity with public affairs had fitted him in an eminent degree for 
the presidency. He owed his election to the Democratic party, whose 
sympathy with France and hostility to the policy of Great Britain were 
well known. Three days before the new administration came into power, 
the embargo act was repealed by Congress; but another measure was 
adopted instead, called the non-intercourse act. By its terms American 
merchantmen were allowed to go abroad, but were forbidden to trade 
with Great Britain. Mr. Erskine, the British minister, now gave notice 
that by the 10th of June the “ orders in council,” so far as they affected 
the United States, should be repealed. But the British government dis¬ 
avowed the act of its agent; and the orders stood as before. 

2. In the following spring the emperor of the French issued a decree 
authorizing the seizure of all American vessels that might approach the 



MADISON’S ADMINISTRA TION. 


345 


ports of France or other harbors held by his troops. But in November 
of the same year the hostile decree was reversed, and all restrictions on 
the commerce of the United States were removed. If Great Britain had 
acted with equal liberality and justice, there would have been no further 
complaint. But that government, with peculiar obstinacy, adhered to its 
former measures, and sent ships of war to hover around the American ports 
and enforce the odious orders issued in the previous years. It was only 
a question of time when such insolence would lead to retaliation and war. 

3. The affairs of the two nations were fast approaching a crisis. It 
became more and more apparent that the wrongs perpetrated by Great 
Britain against the United States would have to be corrected by force of 
arms. That England, after such a career of arrogance, would now make 
reparation for the outrages committed by her navy was no longer to be 
hoped for. The ministry of that same George III. with whom the col¬ 
onies had struggled in the Revolution still directed the affairs of the 
kingdom; from him, now grown old and insane, nothing was to be ex¬ 
pected. The government of the United States had fallen completely 
under control of the party which sympathized with France, while the 
Federal party, from its leaning toward British interests and institutions, 
grew weaker year by year. The American people, smarting under the 
insults of Great Britain, had adopted the motto of Free Trade and 
Sailors’ Rights, and for that motto they had made up their minds to 
fight. The elections, held between 1808 and 1811, showed conclusively 
the drift of public opinion; the sentiment of the country was that war 
was preferable to further humiliation and disgrace. 

4. In the spring of 1810 the third census of the United States was com¬ 
pleted. The population had increased to seven million two hundred and 
forty thousand souls. The States now numbered seventeen, and several new 
Territories were preparing for admission into the Union. The resources 
of the nation were abundant; its institutions deeply rooted and flourishing. 
But with the rapid march of civilization westward the jealousy of the Red 
man was aroused, and Indiana Territory was afflicted with an Indian war. 

5. The Shawnees were the leading tribe in the country between the 
Ohio and the Wabash. Their chief was the famous Tecumtha, a brave 
and sagacious warrior; and with him was joined his brother Elkswatawa, 
called the Prophet. The former was a man of real genius; the latter, a 
vile impostor who pretended to have revelations from the spirit-world. 
But they both worked together in a common cause; and their plan was 
to unite all the nations of the North-west Territory in a final effort to 
beat back the whites. When, therefore, in September of 1809, Governor 
Harrison met the chiefs of several tribes at Fort Wayne, and honorably 


346 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


purchased the Indian titles to three million acres of land, Tecumtha re¬ 
fused to sign the treaty, and threatened death to those who did. In the 
year that followed he visited the nations as far south as Tennessee and 
exhorted them to lay aside their sectional jealousies, in the hope of saving 
their hunting-grounds. 

6. Governor Harrison from Vincennes, the capital of the Territory, 
remonstrated with Tecumtha and the Prophet, held several conferences 
with them, and warned them of what would follow from their proceed¬ 
ings. Still, the leaders insisted that they would have back the lands 
which had been ceded by the treaty of Fort Wayne. The governor stood 
firm, sent for a few companies of soldiers and mustered the militia of the 
Territory. The Indians began to prowl through the Wabash Valley, 
murdering and stealing. In order to secure the country and enforce the 
terms of the treaty, Harrison advanced up the river to Terre Haute, built 
a fort which received his own name, passed on to Montezuma, where 
another block-house was built, and then hastened toward the town of the 
Prophet, at the mouth of the Tippecanoe. When within a few miles of 
his destination, Harrison was met by Indian ambassadors, who asked for 
the appointment of a conference on the following day. Their request was 
granted; and the American army encamped for the night. The place 
selected was a piece of high ground covered with oaks. Burnet Creek 
skirted the encampment on the west. Beyond that, as well as to the east 
of the oak grove, were prairie marsh-lands covered with tall grass. Be¬ 
fore daybreak on the following morning, 7th of November, 1811, the 
treacherous savages, numbering seven hundred, crept through the marshes, 
surrounded Harrison’s position and burst upon the camp like demons. 
But the American militia were under arms in a moment, and fighting in 
the darkness, held the Indians in check until daylight, and then routed 
them in several vigorous charges. On the next day the Americans burned 
the Prophet’s town and soon afterward returned victorious to Vincennes. 
Tecumtha was in the South at the time of the battle; when he returned 
and found his people scattered and subdued, he repaired to Canada and 
joined the standard of the British. 

7. Meanwhile, the powers of Great Britain and the United States had 
come into conflict on the ocean. On the 16th of May Commodore 
Rodgers, cruising in the American frigate President , hailed a vessel off 
the coast of Virginia. Instead of a polite answer to his salutation, he re¬ 
ceived a cannon-ball in the mainmast. Other shots followed, and Rodgers 
responded with a broadside, silencing the enemy’s guns. In the morning 
—for it was already dark—the hostile ship was found to be the British 
sloop-of war Little Belt. The vessel had been severely though justly 


MADISON’S ADMINISTRA TION. 


347 


punished by the President , having eleven men killed and twenty-one 
wounded. The event produced great excitement throughout the country. 

8. On the 4th of November, 1811, the twelfth Congress of the United 
States assembled. In the body were many men of marked ability and 
patriotism. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina now took his seat as a 
member of the House of Representatives. Henry Clay, already distin¬ 
guished as a statesman, was chosen speaker. From the first it was seen 
that war was inevitable. It was impossible for the United States, know¬ 
ing that more than six thousand American citizens had been impressed 
into the British navy, to endure, without dishonor, further injury and 
insolence. Still, many hoped for peace; and the winter passed without 
decisive measures. On the 4th of April, 1812, an act was passed by 
Congress laying an embargo for ninety days on all British vessels within 
the jurisdiction of the United States. But Great Britain would not recede 
from her hostile attitude. One of the ministers declared that it was 
“ an ancient and well-established right” of His Majesty’s government 
to impress British seamen on board of neutral vessels. Before the final 
decision of England was known, Louisiana, the eighteenth State, was, 
on the 8th of April, admitted into the Union. The area of the new 
commonwealth was more than forty-one thousand square miles; and her 
population, according to the census of 1810, had reached seventy-seven 
thousand. 

9. On the 4th of June a resolution declaring war against Great Britain 
was passed by the House of Representatives. On the 17th of the same 
month the bill received the sanction of the Senate; and two days after¬ 
ward the President issued his proclamation of war. Vigorous preparations 
for the impending conflict were made by Congress. It was ordered to 
raise twenty-five thousand regular troops and fifty thousand volunteers. 
At the same time the several States were requested to call out a hundred 
thousand militia for the defence of the coasts and harbors. A national 
loan of eleven million dollars was authorized. Henry Dearborn of Mas¬ 
sachusetts was chosen first major-general and commander-in-chief of the 
army. 

10. The first movement of the war was made by General William Hull, 
governor of Michigan Territory. A force of twelve hundred Ohio volun¬ 
teers, together with three hundred regulars, was organized at Dayton for 
the purpose of overawing the Indians on the north-western frontier. 
Hull was also authorized, should circumstances warrant such a course, to 
invade and conquer Canada. The march began on the 1st of June; and 
it was a full month before the army, toiling through more than two 
hundred miles of forests, reached the western extremity of Lake Erie. 


348 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Arriving at the Maumee, Hull despatched his baggage, stores and official 
papers in a boat to Detroit. But the British forces posted at Malden 
had already been informed of the declaration of hostilities; and Hull’s 
boat with everything on board was captured. 
Nevertheless, the American army pressed on to 
Detroit, where early in July the general received 
despatches informing him of the declaration of 
war, and directing him to proceed with the in¬ 
vasion of Canada. On the 12th of the month 
he crossed the Detroit River to Sandwich with the 
avowed purpose of capturing Malden. And this 
might easily have been accomplished had not the 
inefficiency of the general checked the enthusiasm 
of the army. 

11. Meanwhile, the news came that the Ameri- 
scene of hull’s cam- can p 0S t a t Mackinaw had been surprised and 

PAIGN, 1812. , . . 1 . . n. n 

captured by the British, lhis intelligence fur¬ 
nished Hull a good excuse for recrossing the river to Detroit. Here he 
received intelligence that Major Brush, sent forward by Governor Meigs 
of Ohio, was approaching with reinforcements and supplies. Major Van 
Horne was accordingly despatched with a body of troops to meet Brush 
at the river Raisin and conduct him safely to Detroit. But Tecumtha, 
assisted by some British troops, had cut the lines of communication and 
laid an ambush for Van Horne’s forces in the neighborhood of Browns- 
town. The scheme was successful; Van Horne ran into the trap and 
was severely defeated. Any kind of energetic movement on Hull’s part 
would have retrieved the disaster; but energy was altogether wanting; 
and when, three days later, Colonel Miller with another detachment at¬ 
tacked and routed the savages with great loss, he was hastily recalled to 
Detroit. The officers and men lost all faith in the commander, and there 
were symptoms of a mutiny. 

12. In the mean time, General Brock, the governor of Upper Canada, 
arrived at Malden and took command of the British forces. Acting in 
conjunction with Tecumtha, he crossed the river, and on the 16th of Au¬ 
gust advanced to the siege of Detroit. The Americans in their trenches 
outside of the fort were eager for battle, and stood with lighted matches 
awaiting the order to fire. When the British were within five hundred 
yards, to the amazement of both armies Hull hoisted a white flag over 
the fort. There was a brief parley and then a surrender, perhaps the 
most shameful in the history of the United States. Not only the army 
in Detroit, but all the forces under Hull’s command, became prisoners of 






MADISON\S ADMINISTRATION. 


349 


war. The whole of Michigan Territory was surrendered to the British. 
At the capitulation the American officers in rage and despair stamped the 
ground, broke their swords and tore off their epaulets. The whole 
country was humiliated at the disgraceful business. The government 
gave thirty British prisoners in exchange for Hull, and he was brought 
before a court-martial charged with treason, cowardice and conduct un¬ 
becoming an officer. He was convicted on the last two charges, and sen¬ 
tenced to be shot; but the President, having compassion on one who had 
served the country in the Revolution, pardoned him. After all the dis¬ 
cussions that have been had on Hull and his campaign, the best that can 
be said of him is that he was a patriot and a coward. 

13. About the time of the fall of Detroit, Fort Dearborn, on the present 
site of Chicago, was invested by an army of Indians. The garrison was 
feeble, and the commandant proposed a surrender on condition that his 
men should retire without molestation. This was agreed to; but the 
savages, finding that the garrison had destroyed the whisky that was in 
the fort, fell upon the retreating soldiers, killed some of them, and dis¬ 
tributed the rest as captives. On the day after the capitulation Fort Dear¬ 
born was burned to the ground. 

14. These losses were more than compensated by brilliant victories on 
the ocean. During the summer of 1812 the American navy won a just 
renown. On the 19th of August the frigate Constitution , commanded by 
Captain Isaac Hull, overtook the British ship-of-war Guerriere off the 
coast of Massachusetts. Captain Dacres, who commanded the British 
vessel, had been boasting of his prowess and sending challenges to Ameri¬ 
can ships to come out and fight; now there was an opportunity to exhibit 
his valor. The vessels manoeuvred for a while, the Constitution closing 
with her antagonist, until at half-pistol shot she poured in a terrible 
broadside, sweeping the decks of the Guerriere and deciding the contest. 
Dacres, after losing fifteen men killed and sixty-three wounded, struck 
his colors and surrendered his shattered vessel as a prize. The American 
loss was seven killed and an equal number wounded. On the following 
morning the Gtuerriere , being unmanageable, was blown up; and Hull 
returned to port with his prisoners and spoils. 

15. On the 18th of October the American sloop-of-war Wasp , of 
eighteen guns, under command of Captain Jones, fell in with a fleet of 
British merchantmen off the coast of Virginia. The squadron was under 
convoy of the brig Frolic , of twenty-two guns, commanded by Captain 
Whinvates, who put his vessel between the merchantmen and the Wasp, 
and prepared for battle. A terrible engagement ensued, lasting for three- 
quarters of an hour. Both ships became nearly helpless; but the Wasp 


350 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


closed with her foe and delivered a final broadside which completely 
cleared the deck. The American crew then boarded the Frolic and 
struck the British flag; for not a seaman was left above deck to 
perform that service. Scarcely had the smoke of the conflict cleared 
away when the Poictiers, a British seventy-four gun ship, bore down 
upon the scene, captured the Wasp and retook the wreck of the Frolic. 
But the fame of Captain Jones’s victory was not dimmed by the 
catastrophe. 

16. Seven days afterward, Commodore Decatur, commanding the frigate 
United States, of forty-four guns, attacked the British frigate Macedonian, 
of forty-nine guns. The battle was fought a short distance west of the 
Canary Islands. After a two hours’ engagement, in which the United 
States was but little injured, the Macedonian surrendered, with a loss in 
killed and wounded of more than a hundred men. On the 12th of De¬ 
cember the ship Essex, commanded by Captain Porter, captured *the 
Nocton, a British packet, having on board fifty-five thousand dollars in 
specie. More important still was the capture of the frigate Java by the 
Constitution, now under command of Commodore Bainbridge. On the 
29th of December the two vessels met off San Salvador, on the coast of 
Brazil. A furious battle ensued, continuing for two hours. Every mast 
was torn from the British ship, and her hull was burst with round shot. 
The deck was made slippery with the blood of more than two hundred 
killed and wounded seamen. The vessel was reduced to a wreck before 
the flag was struck; then the crew and passengers, numbering upward 
of four hundred, were transferred to the Constitution, and the hull of 
the Java was burned at sea. The news of these successive victories 
roused the enthusiasm of the people to the highest pitch. In the course 
of the year two hundred and fifty British ships, carrying three thousand 
sailors, and cargoes of immense value, were captured by the American 
cruisers. 

17. During the summer and autumn of 1812 military operations were 
active, but not decisive, on the Niagara frontier. The troops in that 
quarter, consisting of the New York militia, a few regulars, and recruits 
from other States, were commanded by General Stephen Van Rensselaer. 
The first movement of the Americans was made against Queenstown, on 
the Canada side of the river. On the 13th of October a thousand men were 
embarked in boats and landed on the western shore. They were resisted 
at the water’s edge, and Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, the leader, was 
wounded. The subordinate officers led the charge, and the British bat¬ 
teries on the heights of Queenstown were carried. The enemy’s forces 
were rallied, however, by General Brock, and returning to the charge, 


MALISON'S ALMINISTRATION. 


351 


were a second time repulsed. General Brock fell mortally wounded. 
-The Americans began to entrench themselves, and orders were sent across 
the river for the remaining division, twelve 
hundred strong, to hasten to the rescue. But 
the American militia on the eastern shore de¬ 
clared that they were there to defend the 
United States, and not to invade Canada. 

There they stood all afternoon, while their 
comrades at Queenstown were surrounded by 
the British, who came with strong reinforce¬ 
ments from Fort George. The Americans 
bravely defended themselves until they had 
lost a hundred and sixty men in killed and 
wounded, and were then obliged to surrender. 

General Van Rensselaer, disgusted at the con¬ 
duct of the New York militia, resigned his 
command, and was succeeded by General 
Alexander Smyth of Virginia. 

18. The Americans, numbering between 
four and five thousand, were now rallied at Black Rock, a few miles 
north of Buffalo. From this point, on the 28th of November, a com¬ 
pany was sent across to the Canada shore; but instead of following with 
a stronger detachment, General Smyth ordered the advance party to 
return. A few days afterward another crossing was planned, and the 
Americans were already embarked, when they were commanded to return 
to winter quarters. The militia became mutinous. Smyth was charged 
with cowardice and disloyalty, and after three months was deposed from 
his command. Thus ended the military operations of 1812. In the 
autumn Madison was re-elected President; the choice for Vice-President 
fell on Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. In the debates at the opening 
of Congress the policy of the administration was strongly condemned by 
the opponents of the war; but vigorous measures were adopted for 
strengthening the army and navy. 

23 





352 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER Y. 

WAR OF 1812.—CONTINUED. 

[ N the beginning of 1813 the American army was organized in three 
divisions: the Army of the North, commanded by General 
Wade Hampton, to operate in the country of Lake Champlain; the 
Army of the Centre, under direction of the commander-in-chief, to 
resume offensive movements on the Niagara frontier and Lake Ontario; 
the Army of the West, under command of General Winchester, 
who was soon superseded by General Harrison. Early in January the 
latter division, made up of various detachments of militia from the 
Western States, moved toward the head of Lake Erie to regain the 
ground lost by Hull in the previous summer. On the 10th of the month 
the American advance, composed of eight hundred men under Winchester, 
reached the rapids of the Maumee. A body of British and Indians was 
posted at Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, thirty miles from Winchester’s 
camp. A detachment of Americans pressed forward, attacked the enemy, 
captured the town, encamped there, and on the 20th of the month were 
joined by Winchester with the main division. 

2. Two days afterward the Americans were suddenly assaulted by a 
force of a thousand five hundred British and Indians under command of 
General Proctor. A severe battle was fought, each party losing nearly 
three hundred men. The British were checked, and for a while the issue 
was doubtful; but General Winchester, having been taken by the enemy, 
advised his forces to capitulate under a pledge of protection given by 
Proctor and his subordinates. As soon as the surrender was made the 
British general set off at a rapid rate to return to Malden. The American 
wounded were left to the mercy of the savages , who at once began their 
work with tomahawk and scalping-knife and torch. The two houses 
into which most of the wounded had been crowded were fired, while the 
painted barbarians stood around and hurled back into the flames whoever 
attempted to escape. The rest of the prisoners were dragged away through 
untold sufferings to Detroit, where they were ransomed at an enormous 
price. This shameful campaign has fixed on the name of Proctor the 
indelible stain of infamy. 

3. General Harrison, on hearing the fate of Winchester’s division, fell 
back from the Maumee, but soon returned and built Fort Meigs. Here 


WAR OF 12 . 


353 


he remained until the 1st of May, when he was besieged by a force of two 
thousand British and savages, led by Proctor and Tecumtha. Meanwhile, 
General Clay with twelve hundred Kentuckians advanced to the relief of 
the fort. The besiegers were attacked in turn, and at the same time the 
besieged made a successful sally. But for the mistake of Colonel Dudley, 
who allowed his detachment to be cut off and captured, the British would 
have been completely routed. Again the American prisoners were treated 
with savage cruelty until Tecumtha, not Proctor, interfered to save them. 
In a few days the Indians deserted in large numbers, and Proctor, be¬ 
coming alarmed, abandoned the siege, and on the 9th of May retreated to 
Malden. 

4. For nearly three months active operations were suspended. In the 
latter part of July, Proctor and Tecumtha with a force of nearly four 
thousand men returned to Fort Meigs, now commanded by General Clay. 
For several days the British general beat about the American position, 
attempting to draw out the garrison. Failing in that, he filed off with 
about half his forces and attacked Fort Stephenson, at Lower Sandusky. 
This place was defended by a hundred and sixty men under command of 
Colonel Croghan, a stripling but twenty-one years of age. But he ex¬ 
hibited the skill and bravery of a veteran. To the enemy’s summons, 
accompanied with a threat of massacre in case of refusal, he answered that 
the fort should be held as long as there was a man left alive within it. 
For a while the British cannonaded the ramparts without much effect, 
and on the 2d of August advanced to carry the place by storm. Croghan 
filled his only gun with slugs and grape-shot, and masked it in such a 
position as to rake the ditch from end to end. The British, believing the 
fort to be silenced, crowded into the fatal trench, and were swept away 
almost to a man. The repulse was complete. Proctor, fearing the ap¬ 
proach of Harrison, raised the siege and returned to Malden. 

5. At this time the waters of Lake Erie were commanded by a British 
squadron of six vessels carrying sixty-three guns. It was seen that a suc¬ 
cessful invasion of Canada could only be made by first gaining control of 
the lake. This serious undertaking was imposed on Commodore Oliver 
H. Perry of Rhode Island—a young man not twenty-eight years old who 
had never been in a naval battle. His antagonist, Commodore Barclay, 
was a veteran from the sea-service of Europe. With indefatigable energy 
Perry directed the construction of nine ships, carrying fifty-four guns, and 
was soon afloat on the lake. On the 10th of September the two fleets met 
a short distance north-west of Put-in Bay. Careful directions had been 
given by both commanders for the impending battle; both were resolved 
on victory. The fight was begun by the American squadron, Perry’s 


354 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


flag-ship, the Lawrence, leading the attack. His principal antagonist was 
the Detroit, under the immediate command of Barclay. The British guns, 
being longer, had the wider range, and were better served. The Lawrence 
was ruined; nearly all the cannon were dismounted, masts torn away, 
sailors killed. 

6. Bel ween the other ships the battle was proceeding in a desultory 
way without much damage; but Barclay’s flag-ship was almost as nearly 
wrecked as the Lawrence. Perceiving with quick eye how the battle stood, 
the dauntless Perry, himself unhurt, put on his uniform, seized his ban¬ 
ner, got overboard into an open boat, passed within pistol-shot of the 
enemy’s ships, a storm of balls flying around him, and transferred his flag 
to the Niagara. A shout went up from the American fleet; it was the 
signal of victory. With the powerful Niagara still uninjured by the 
battle, Perry bore down upon the enemy’s line, drove right through 
the midst, discharging terrible broadsides right and left. In fifteen 
minutes the work was done; the British fleet was helpless. Perry with 
a touch of pride returned to the bloody deck of the Lawrence, and there 
received the surrender. And then he sent to General Harrison this 
famous despatch: u We have met the enemy, and they are ours—two 
ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.” 

7. This victory gave the Americans full control of Lake Erie. Both 
Proctor and Harrison awaited the result. If Barclay should win, Proctor 
would invade Ohio; if Perry should prove victorious, Harrison would 
conquer Canada. For the Americans the way was now opened. On the 
27th of September Harrison’s army was embarked at Sandusky Bay and 
landed near Malden. The disheartened British retreated to Sandwich, 
the Americans following hard after. From the latter place Proctor con¬ 
tinued his retreat to the river Thames, and there faced about to fight. 
The battle-field was well chosen by the British, whose lines extended 
from the river to a swamp. Here, on the 5th of October, they were 
attacked by the Americans led by Harrison and General Shelby, governor 
of Kentucky. In the beginning of the battle, Proctor, being a coward, 
ran. The British regulars sustained the attack with firmness, and were 
only broken when furiously charged by the Kentuckians under Colonel 
Richard M. Johnson. When that part of the field was won, the Ameri¬ 
cans wheeled against the Indians, who, to the number of fifteen hundred, 
lay hidden in the swamp to the west. Here the battle raged fiercely. 
Tecumtha had staked all on the issue. For a while his war-whoop 
sounded above the din of the conflict. Presently his voice was heard no 
longer, for the great chieftain had fallen. At the same time Colonel 
Johnson was borne away severely wounded. The savages, appalled by 


WAR OF 12 . 


355 


the death of their leader, fled in despair. The victory was complete. So 
ended the campaign in the West. The Indian confederacy was broken 
to pieces. All that Hull had lost was regained. Michigan was recovered. 
Ohio no longer feared invasion. Perry swept Lake Erie with his fleet. 
Canada was prostrated before the victorious army of Harrison. 

8. Meanwhile, the Creeks of Alabama, kinsmen of the Shawnees, had 
taken up arms. In the latter part of August, Fort Mims, forty miles 
north of Mobile, was surprised bv the savages, who appeased their thirst 
for blood with the murder of nearly four hundred people; not a woman 
or child was spared, and but few of the men in the fort escaped. The 
news of the massacre spread consternation throughout the Southwest. 
The governors of Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi Territory made 
immediate preparations for invading the country of the Creeks. The 
Tennesseeans, under command of General Jackson, were first to the res¬ 
cue. A detachment of nine hundred men, led 
by General Coffee, reached the Indian town 
of Tallushatchee, attacked it, burned it, left 
not an Indian alive. On the 8th of Novem¬ 
ber a battle was fought at Talladega, east of 
the Coosa, and the savages were defeated with 
severe losses. In the latter part of the same 
month another fight occurred at Autosse, on 
the south bank of the Tallapoosa, and again 
the Indians were routed. 

9. During the winter Jackson’s troops, un¬ 
provided and starving, became mutinous and 
were going home. But the general set the 
example of living on acorns; then rode before 
the rebellious line and threatened with death the first mutineer who 
stirred. And no man stirred. On the 22d of January, 1814, the battle 
of Emucfau was fought on the west bank of the Tallapoosa. The valor 
of the Tennesseeans again gave them the victory. At Tohopeka, called 
by the whites the Horseshoe Bend, the Creeks made their final stand. 
Here the Tallapoosa winds westward and northward, enclosing a large 
tract of land in the form of a peninsula with a narrow neck. This posi¬ 
tion the Indians had fortified with more than their usual skill. The 
whites, led by General Coffee, surrounded the place, so as to prevent 
escape by crossing the river. On the 27th of March, the main body 
of whites under General Jackson stormed the breastworks and drove 
the Indians into the bend. There, huddled together without the pos¬ 
sibility of escape, a thousand Creek warriors, with the women and 



SCENK OF THE CREEK WAR, 

1813-14. 





356 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


children of the tribe, met their doom. The desperate Red men asked 
no quarter, and none was given. The few chiefs who were still abroad 
sent in their submission; the spirit of the nation was completely 
broken. 

10. On the 25th of April, 1813, General Dearborn, commanding the 
Army of the Centre, embarked his forces at Sackett’s Harbor, near the 
eastern extremity of Lake Ontario. The object of the expedition was to 
capture Toronto, the capital of Upper Canada. Here was the most im¬ 
portant depot of supplies in British America. The American fleet under 
Commodore Chauncey had already obtained the mastery of the lake, so 
that Dearborn’s passage was unopposed. On the 27th of the month a 
force of seventeen hundred men, commanded by General Pike, was 
landed within two miles of Toronto. At the water’s edge they were 
met by the British. The Americans drove the enemy for a mile and 
a half, stormed a battery, and rushed forward to carry the main de¬ 
fences. At that moment the British magazine blew up with terrific 
violence. The assaulting column was covered with the debris of the 
explosion. Two hundred men were killed or wounded. General Pike 
was fatally injured, but lived long enough to hear the shout of vic¬ 
tory; for the Americans, first shocked and then maddened by the 
calamity, made a furious charge and drove the British out of the town. 
General Sheaffe with a body of regulars escaped; the rest were taken 
prisoners. Property to the value of a half million dollars was secured 
to the victors. 

11. While this movement was taking place the enemy made a descent 
on Sackett’s Harbor. By the withdrawal of the American forces that 
post had been left exposed. The British succeeded in destroying a quan¬ 
tity of stores; but General Brown rallied the militia, and drove back the 
assailants with considerable loss. Meanwhile, the victorious troops at 
Toronto had re-embarked and crossed the lake to the mouth of the 
Niagara. On the 27th of May the Americans, led by Generals Chandler 
and Winder, crossed the river and stormed Fort George, on the Canada 
shore. The British hastily destroyed their posts along the Niagara and 
retreated to Burlington Bay, at the western extremity of the lake. The 
Americans, pursuing them thither, were attacked in the night, but suc¬ 
ceeded in repulsing the enemy with loss. 

12. During the months of summer military operations on the frontier 
were suspended. After the battle of the Thames, General Harrison had 
transferred his forces to Buffalo, and then resigned his commission. On 
account of old age and ill health General Dearborn also withdrew from 
the service, and was succeeded by General Wilkinson. The next cam- 


WAR OF ’ 12 . 


357 


paign, which was planned by General Armstrong, secretary of war, em¬ 
braced the conquest of Montreal. For this purpose the Army of the 
Centre, under Wilkinson, was ordered to join the Army of the North at 
some convenient point on the St. Lawrence. The enterprise was attended 
with many difficulties and not a few delays. Not until the 5th of Novem¬ 
ber did a force of seven thousand men, embarking from the mouth of 
French Creek, twenty miles north of Sackett’s Harbor, sail down the St. 
Lawrence for the conquest of Montreal. Parties of British, Canadians 
and Indians, gathering on the northern bank of the river, constantly im¬ 
peded the progress of the expedition. General Brown was landed with a 
considerable force to disperse these bands or drive the enemy into the 
interior. On the 11th of the month a severe battle was fought at a 
place called Chrysler’s Field. Neither party gained a victory, but the 
advantage remained with the British. The Americans, having lost 
nearly three hundred men in the fight, passed down the river to St. 
Regis, on the southern shore, where the forces of General Hampton 
were expected from Plattsburg to form a junction with Wilkinson’s 
command. But Hampton did not stir; and the project of attacking 
Montreal had to be abandoned. The Americans then went into winter 
quarters at Fort Covington, at the fork of Salmon River, nine miles 
from St. Regis. 

13. In the mean time, the British on the Niagara frontier rallied and 
advanced against Fort George. General McClure, the commandant, 
abandoned the place on the approach of the enemy, but before retreating 
burned the Canadian town of Newark. It cost the people of Northern 
New York dearly; for the British and Indians crossed the river, cap¬ 
tured Fort Niagara, and fired the villages of Youngstown, Lewiston and 
Manchester. On next to the last day of the year Black Rock and Buffalo 
were laid in ashes. 

14; In the sea-fights of 1813 victory generally declared for the British. 
During the year both nations wasted much blood and treasure on the 
ocean. Off the coast of Demarara, on the 24th of February, the sloop- 
of-war Hornet , commanded by Captain James Lawrence, fell in with the 
British brig Peacock. The ships were equally matched. A terrible battle 
of fifteen minutes ensued, and the Peacock , already sinking, struck her 
colors. While the Americans were trying to transfer the conquered crew 
the ocean yawned and the brig sank out of sight. Nine British sailors 
and three of Lawrence’s men were sucked down in the whirlpool. 

15. On returning to Boston the command of the Chesapeake —one of 
the best frigates in the American navy—was given to Lawrence, and 
again he put to sea. Before sailing he received a challenge from Captain 


358 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Broke, of the British frigate Shannon, to come out and fight him. Law¬ 
rence ought not to have accepted the banter; for his equipments were 
incomplete and his crew ill assorted, sick and half mutinous. But he was 
young, and the favorite of the nation; fired with applause, he went un¬ 
hesitatingly to meet his foe. Eastward from Cape Ann the two vessels 
met on the first day of June. The battle was obstinate, brief, dreadful. 
In a short time every officer who could direct the movements of the 
Chesapeake was either killed or wounded. The brave young Lawrence 
was struck with a musket-ball, and fell dying on the bloody deck. 
As they bore him down the hatchway he gave in feeble voice his last 
heroic order—ever afterward the motto of the American sailor—“ Don’t 
^ive up the ship !” The British were already leaping on deck, and 
die flag of England was hoisted over the shattered vessel. Both 
ships were charnel-houses; but the Shannon was still able to tow her 
prize into the harbor of Halifax. There the bodies of Lawrence and 
Ludlow, second in command, were tenderly and honorably buried by the 
British. 

16. The next important naval battle was fought on the 14th of August 
between the American brig Argus and the British Pelican. The former 
vessel had made a daring cruise about the coasts of England, capturing 
more than twenty ships. Herself overtaken by the Pelican, she was 
obliged, after a severe conflict, to surrender. On the 5th of September 
another British brig, the Boxer, cruising off the coast of Maine, was over¬ 
hauled and captured by the American Enterprise, commanded by Captain 
Burrows. The fight raged for three-quarters of an hour, when the Boxer 
surrendered. Captain Blyth, the British commander, was killed; and 
the gallant Burrows received a mortal wound. The bodies of both 
officers were taken to Portland and buried side by side with military 
honors. All summer long Captain Porter in the frigate Essex cruised in 
the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. For five months he was the 
terror of British merchantmen in those broad waters. On the 28th of 
the following March, while the Essex was lying in the harbor of Val¬ 
paraiso, she was beset, contrary to the law of nations, by two powerful 
British vessels, the Phoebe and the Cherub. The Essex had been crippled 
by a storm, and was anchored in neutral waters; in that condition Captain 
Porter fought his two antagonists until nearly all of his men were killed 
or wounded; then struck his colors and surrendered. Notwithstanding 
the losses sustained by the American navy, privateers continued to scour 
the ocean and capture British vessels. 

17. From honorable warfare the naval officers of England stooped to 
marauding along the sea-shore. Early in the year a squadron entered 


THE CAMPAIGNS OF 14 . 


359 


Delaware Bay and anchored before Lewistown. A requisition on the in¬ 
habitants to supply the fleet with provisions was met with a brave refusal. 
A threat to burn the town was answered with a message of defiance. A 
bombardment of twenty-four hours’ duration followed; the houses were 
much injured, and the people fled, carrying their property to places of 
safety. Other British men-of-war entered the Chesapeake and burned 
several villages on the shores of the bay. At the town of Hampton, just 
above the Roads, the soldiers and marines perpetrated such outrages as 
covered their memory with shame. Commodore Hardy, to whom the 
blockade of the New England harbors had been assigned, behaved with 
more humanity; even the Americans recognized and praised his honor¬ 
able conduct. The year 1813 closed without decisive results. 


CHAPTER VI. 

THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1 4. 

I N the spring of 1814 another invasion of Canada was planned. The 
Niagara frontier was the scene of operations; but there was much 
delay in bringing the scattered detachments of General Wilkinson’s army 
into proper position. Not until the 3d of July did Generals Scott and 
Ripley, at the head of three thousand men, cross the Niagara from Black 
Rock to Fort Erie. This post, garrisoned by two hundred British, was 
surrendered without a battle. On the following day the Americans ad¬ 
vanced down the river-bank in the direction of Chippewa village. Before 
reaching that place, however, they were met by the British army, led by 
General Riall. On the evening of the 5th a severe battle was fought on 
the plain just south of Chippewa River. The Americans, led on by 
Generals Scott and Ripley and the gallant Major Jessup, won the day; 
but their loss amounted to three hundred and thirty-eight men. The 
British veterans, after more than five hundred of their number had fallen, 
were driven into their entrenchments. 

2. General Riall retreated first to Queenstown and afterward to Bur¬ 
lington Heights. General Scott, commanding the American right, was 
detached to watch the movements of the enemy. On the evening of the 
25th of July he found himself suddenly confronted by Riall’s army, 
strongly posted on the high grounds in sight of Niagara Falls. Here 



360 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


was fought the hardest battle of the war. A man less courageous and 
self-confident than Scott would have retreated; but with extraordinary 
daring he held his own until reinforced by the other divisions of the 
army. The British reserves were also rapidly brought into action. 
Twilight faded into darkness, and still the battle was undecided. A de¬ 
tachment of Americans, getting upon the British rear, captured General 
Riall and his entire staff. Still the contest raged. The key to the 
enemy’s position was a high ground crowned with a battery. Calling 
Colonel James Miller to his side and pointing to the hill, General Brown 
said, “ Colonel, take your regiment and storm that battery.” “ I’ll try, 
sir,” was the answer of the gallant officer; and he did take it, and held 
it against three desperate assaults of the British. In the last charge 
General Drummond, who led, was wounded, and the royal army, num¬ 
bering fully five thousand, was driven from the field with a loss of eight 
hundred and seventy-eight men. The Americans engaged in the battle 
numbered about four thousand; their loss in killed, wounded and miss¬ 
ing was more than eight hundred. 

3. After this battle of Niagara, or Lundy’s Lane, as it is sometimes 
called, General Ripley took command of the American forces; for Generals 
Brown and Scott were both wounded. It was deemed prudent to fall 
back to Fort Erie. To that place General Gaines crossed over from 
Buffalo, and being the senior officer, assumed command of the army. 
Very soon General Drummond received reinforcements, moved forward, 
and on the 4th of August invested Fort Erie. The siege continued for 
ten days, and then the British attempted to storm the works, but were 
driven back with severe losses. But the enemy was reinforced and the 
siege resumed. A regular and destructive bombardment was kept up by 
the British, and was answered by the Americans with equal energy. On 
the 28th of August General Gaines was injured by the explosion of a 
shell and obliged to relinquish his command. General Brown, though 
still suffering from the wound received at Niagara, was again called to 
direct the defences of the fort. On the 17th of September a sortie was 
ordered, and the advanced works of the British were gallantly carried. 
At the same time news arrived that the American general Izard was ap¬ 
proaching from Plattsburg with strong reinforcements. Alarmed at the 
threatening aspect of affairs, the British raised* the siege and retreated to 
Foft George. On the 5th of November Fort Erie was evacuated and 
destroyed by the Americans, who then recrossed the Niagara and went 
into winter quarters at Black Rock and Buffalo. So ended the war in 
the country between Lakes Erie and Ontario. 

4. The winter of 1813-14 was passed by the Army of the North at 


THE CAMPAIGNS OF 14 . 


361 


French Mills, afterward called Fort Covington. In the latter part of 
February General Wilkinson advanced his forces to Plattsburg, and in 
the following month began an invasion of Canada. At La Colle, on the 
west bank of the Sorel, he encountered a force of the enemy, made an im¬ 
prudent attack and was defeated. Falling back to Plattsburg, he was 
superseded by General Izard. How that officer marched to the relief of 
General Brown at Fort Erie has already been narrated. The remaining 
division of the northern army, fifteen hundred strong, was left under com¬ 
mand of General Macomb at Plattsburg. At this time the American 
flotilla on Lake Champlain was commanded by Commodore MacDonough. 
For the purpose of destroying this fleet and obtaining control of the lake, 
the British general Prevost advanced into Northern New York at the 
head of fourteen thousand men, and at the same time ordered Commodore 
Downie to ascend the Sorel with his fleet. 

5. The invading army reached Plattsburg without opposition. Com¬ 
modore MacDonough’s squadron lay in the bay. On the 6th of Septem¬ 
ber General Macomb retired with his small but courageous army to the 
south bank of the Saranac, which skirted the village. On came the 
British, entered the town, and attempted to cross the river, but were 
driven back. For four days they renewed their efforts; the Americans 
had torn up the bridges, and a passage could not be effected. The British 
fleet was now ready for action, and a general battle by land and water 
was planned for the 11th. Prevost’s army, arranged in three columns, 
was to sweep across the Saranac and carry Macomb’s position, while 
Downie’s powerful flotilla was to bear down on MacDonough. The 
naval battle began first, and was obstinately fought for two hours and a 
half. At the end of that time Downie and many of his officers had been 
killed; the heavier British vessels were disabled and obliged to strike 
their colors. The smaller ships escaped; for the American brigs were 
so badly crippled that pursuit could not be made. Nevertheless, the 
victory on the lake was complete and glorious. The news was carried 
ashore, where the Americans were bravely contesting the passage of the 
river against overwhelming numbers. At one ford the British column 
succeeded in crossing; but the tidings from the lake fired the militia with 
ardor; they made a rush, and the enemy was driven back. Prevost, after 
losing nearly two thousand five hundred men and squandering two and a 
half million dollars in a fruitless campaign, retired precipitately to Canada. 
The ministry of England, made wise by the disasters of this invasion, 
began to devise measures looking to peace. 

6. In the country of the Chesapeake the scenes of the previous year 
were renewed by the British. Late in the summer Admiral Cochrane 


362 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


arrived off the coast of Virginia with an armament of twenty-one vessels. 
General Ross with an army of four thousand veterans, freed from service 
in Europe, came Avith the fleet. The American squadron,, commanded 
by Commodore Barney, was unable to oppose so poAverful a force. The 
enemy’s flotilla entered the Chesapeake Avith the purpose of attacking 
Washington and Baltimore. The larger division of the British fleet 
sailed into the Patuxent, and on the 19th of August the forces of General 
Ross were landed at the town of Benedict. Commodore Barney was 
obliged to blow up his vessels and take to the shore. From Benedict the 
British advanced against Washington. At Bladensburg, six miles north¬ 
east of the capital, they Avere met, on the 24th of the month, by the 
militia and the marines under Barney. Here a battle Avas fought. The 
undisciplined militia behaved badly. Barney’s seamen Avere overpoAvered 
by the British, and himself taken prisoner. The neAvs of the defeat was 
rapidly borne to Washington. The President, the cabinet officers and 
the people betook themselves to flight, and Ross marched unopposed into 
the city. He had been ordered by his superiors to use the torch, and the 
work of destruction was accordingly begun. All the public buildings ex¬ 
cept the Patent Office were burned. The beautiful but unfinished Capitol 
and the President’s bouse were left a mass of blackened ruins. Many 
private edifices Avere also destroyed; but General Ross, himself a humane 
man, did less than he Avas ordered to do.* 

7. Five days after the capture of Washington, a portion of the British 
fleet, ascending the Potomac, reached Alexandria. The inhabitants of 
that to\\ r n, in order to a\ T oid the fate of the capital, purchased the forbear¬ 
ance of the enemy by the surrender of twenty-one ships, sixteen thousand 
barrels of flour and a thousand hogsheads of tobacco. Baltimore redeemed 
herself more bravely. Against that city, after the capture of Washington, 
General Ross proceeded with his army and fleet. Mean\A r hile, the militia, 
to the number of ten thousand, had gathered under command of General 
Samuel Smith, a Revolutionary veteran. On the 12th of September the 
British Avere landed at North Point, at the mouth of the Patapsco; and 
the fleet began the ascent of the river. The land-forces, after marching 
about halfway to Baltimore, Avere met by the Americans under General 
Strieker. A skirmish ensued in Avhich General Ross Avas killed; but 
Colonel Brooks assumed command of the invading army, and the march 
continued. When approaching the city, the British came upon the Ameri¬ 
can lines and Avere brought to a halt by a severe cannonade. General 

* An excuse for this outrageous barbarism was found in the previous conduct of the 
Americans, who, at Toronto and other places on the Canadian frontier, had behaved but 
little better. 


THE CAMPAIGNS OF 14 . 


363 


Strieker, however, ordered his men to fall back to a second line of de¬ 
fences, from which they gave the enemy a permanent check. 

8. Meanwhile, the British squadron had ascended the Patapsco and 
begun the bombardment of Fort McHenry, at the entrance to the harbor. 
From sunrise of the 13th until after midnight the guns of the fleet poured 
a tempest of shot and shells upon the fortress.* At the end of that time 
the soldiers of the garrison were as full of spirit and the works as strong 
as at the beginning. It was plain that the British had undertaken more 
than they could accomplish. Disheartened and baffled, they ceased to 
fire. The land-forces retired from before the American entrenchments 
and re-embarked. The siege of Baltimore was at an end. 

9. New England did not escape the ravages of war. On the 9th and 
10th of August the village of Stonington, in the south-eastern corner of 
Connecticut, was bombarded by Commodore Hardy; but the British, 
attempting to land, were beaten back by the militia. The fisheries of the 
New England coast were for the most part broken up. The salt-works 
at Cape Cod escaped only by the payment of heavy ransoms. All the 
principal harbors from Maine to Delaware were under a rigorous blockade, 
and the foreign commerce of the Eastern States was totally destroyed. 
The beacons in the lighthouses were allowed to burn out, and a general 
gloom settled over the country. 

10. From the beginning many of the people of New England had op¬ 
posed the war. Their interests centred in ships and factories; the former 
were captured at sea and the latter came to a stand-still. Industry was 
paralyzed. The members of the Federal party cried out against the con¬ 
tinuance of the contest. The legislature of Massachusetts advised the 
calling of a convention. The other Eastern States responded to the call; 
and on the 14th of December the delegates assembled at Hartford. The 
objects of the convention were not very clearly expressed; but opposition 
to the war and the policy of the administration was the leading principle. 
The leaders of the Democratic party, who supported the war-policy of 
the government, did not hesitate to sav that the purposes of the assembly 
were disloyal and treasonable. Be that as it may, the convention ruined 
the Federal party. After remaining in session with closed doors for 
nearly three weeks, the delegates published an address more moderate 
and just than had been expected; and then adjourned. But little hope 
of political preferment remained for those who participated in the Hart¬ 
ford convention. 

* During the night of this bombardment, Francis S. Key, detained on board a British 
ship and watching the American flag over Fort McHenry—seen at intervals by the glare 
of rockets and the flash of cannon—composed The Star-spangled Banner. 


364 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


11. During the progress of the war the Spanish authorities of Florida 
sympathized with the British. In the month of August a detachment of 
the enemy’s fleet was allowed by the commandant of Pensacola to use 
that post for the purpose of fitting out an expedition against Fort 
Bowyer, commanding the entrance to the bay of Mobile. On the 15th 
of September the latter post was attacked, but the assailants were 
driven off. General Jackson, who at that time commanded the Ameri¬ 
can forces in the South, remonstrated with the Spaniards against this 
violation of neutrality, but received no satisfaction. Jackson, whose way 
it was to mete out summary justice to offenders, marched a force against 
Pensacola, stormed the town and drove the British out of Florida. This 
was the beginning of the last campaign of the war. 

12. After the taking of Pensacola General Jackson returned to his 
headquarters at Mobile. There he learned that the British were making 
formidable preparations for the conquest of Louisiana. Repairing at once 
to New Orleans, he assumed control of the city, declared martial law, 
mustered the militia, and adopted the most vigorous measures for repel¬ 
ling the invasion. From La Fitte, chief of a band of smugglers in the 
Bay of Barataria, he obtained information of the enemy’s plans. The 
British army, numbering twelve thousand, came in a fleet of fifty ves¬ 
sels from Jamaica. Sir Edward Packenham, brother-in-law of the 
duke of Wellington, was commander of the invading forces. On the 
1 Oth of December the squadron entered the outlet of Lake Borgne, 
sixty miles north-east of New Orleans. Four days afterward a flotilla 
of gun-boats which had been placed to guard the lake was captured 
by the British, but not until a severe loss had been inflicted on the 
enemy. 

13. On the 22d of the month Packenham’s advance reached the Mis¬ 
sissippi nine miles below the city. A detachment was sent to the western 
bank of the river, but this operation was checked by a counter movement 
on the part of the Americans. On the night of the 23d General Jackson 
sent a schooner down the Mississippi to bombard the British camp, while 
at the same time he and General Coffee advanced with two thousand Ten¬ 
nessee riflemen to attack Packenham’s camp in front. After a bloody 
assault Jackson was obliged to retire, the enemy losing most in the en¬ 
gagement. On the following day Jackson fell back and took a strong 
position along the canal, four miles below the city. Packenham ad¬ 
vanced, and on the 28th cannonaded the American position with but 
little effect. On New Year’s day the attack was renewed. The heavy 
guns of the British had now been brought into position ; but the Ameri¬ 
cans easily held their ground, and the enemy was again driven back. 


THE CAMPAIGNS OF 14 . 


365 


Packenham now made arrangements to lead his whole army in a grand 
assault on the American lines. 

14. Jackson was ready. Earthworks had been constructed, and a long 
line of cotton-bales and sand-bags thrown up for protection. On the 
morning of the memorable 8th of January the British moved forward. 
They went to a terrible fate. The battle began with the light of early 
morning, and was ended before nine o’clock. Packenham hurled column 
after column against the American position, and column after column was 
smitten with irretrievable ruin. Jackson’s men, behind their breastworks, 
were almost entirely secure from the enemy’s fire, while every discharge 
of the Tennessee and Kentucky rifles told with awful effect on the ex¬ 
posed veterans of England. Packenham, trying to rally his men, was 
killed; General Gibbs, second in command, was mortally wounded. 
General Keene fell disabled; only General Lambert was left to call the 
shattered fragments of the army from the field. Never was there in a 
great battle such disparity of losses. Of the British fully seven hundred 
were killed, fourteen hundred wounded and five hundred taken prisoners. 
The American loss amounted to eight killed and thirteen wounded. 

15. After the battle Jackson granted a truce for the burial of the 
British dead. That done, General Lambert recalled the detachment from 
the west bank of the river and retired with his ruined army into Lake 
Borgne. At Fort Bowyer he received the news of peace. Jackson 
marched into New Orleans with his victorious army, and was received 
with unbounded enthusiasm. Such, so far as operations by land were 
concerned, was the close of the war. On the ocean hostilities lingered 
until spring. On the 20th of February the American frigate Constitution , 
cruising off Cape St. Vincent, caught sight of two hostile vessels, gave 
chase, and after a severe fight captured them. They proved to be British 
brigs—the Cyane, of thirty-six guns, and the Levant , of eighteen. On the 
23d of March the American Hornet , commanded by Captain Biddle, ended 
the conflict by capturing the British Penguin off the coast of Brazil. 

16. Already a treaty of peace had been made and ratified. Both nations 
had long desired such a result. In the summer of 1814 American com¬ 
missioners were sent to Ghent, in Belgium, and were there met by Lord 
Gambier, Henry Goulburn and William Adams, ambassadors of Great 
Britain. The agents of the United States were John Quincy Adams, 
James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell and Albert Gallatin. 
Several months were spent in negotiations; and on the 24th of December, 
1814, a treaty was agreed to and signed. In both countries, but especially 
in the United States, the news was received with deep satisfaction. On 
the 18th of February the treaty was ratified by the Senate, and peace was 


366 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


publicly proclaimed. It was in the interim between the conclusion of the 
treaty and the reception of the news in the United States that the battle 
of New Orleans was fought. A telegraph would have saved all that 
bloodshed. 

17. There never was a more absurd treaty than that of Ghent. Its 
only significance was that Great Britain and the United States, having 
been at war, agreed to be at peace. Not one of the distinctive issues to 
decide which the war had been undertaken was settled or even men¬ 
tioned. Of the impressment of American seamen not a word was said. 
The wrongs done to the commerce of the United States were not referred 
to. The rights of neutral nations were left as undetermined as before. 
Of “ free trade and sailors’ rights,” which had been the battle-cry of the 
American navy, no mention was made. The principal articles of the 
compact were devoted to the settlement of unimportant boundaries and 
the possession of some petty islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy. 
There is little doubt, however, that at the time of the treaty Great Britain 
gave the United States a private assurance that impressment and the other 
wrongs complained of by the Americans should be practiced no more. 
For the space of sixty years vessels bearing the flag of the United States 
have been secure from such insults as caused the war of 1812. 

18. At the close of the conflict the country was burdened with a debt 
of a hundred million dollars. The monetary affairs of the nation were in 
a deplorable condition. The charter of the Bank of the United States 
expired in 1811, and in the following years the other banks of the 
country were obliged to suspend specie payment. The people were 
thus deprived of the currency necessary for the transaction of business. 
Domestic commerce was paralyzed by the want of money, and foreign 
trade destroyed by the enemy’s fleet. In the year after the close of the 
war a bill was passed by Congress to recharter the Bank of the United 
States. The measure being objectionable, the President interposed his 
veto; but in the following session the bill was again passed in an 
amended form. The capital was fixed at thirty-five million dollars. 
The central banking-house was established at Philadelphia, and branches 
were authorized at various other cities. On the 4th of March, 1817, the 
new financial institution went into operation; and the business and credit 
of the country were thereby greatly improved. Meanwhile, the United 
States had been engaged in a foreign war. 

19. During the conflict with Great Britain the Algerine pirates re¬ 
newed their depredations on American commerce. As soon as the treaty 
of Ghent was concluded the government of the United States ordered 
Commodore Decatur, commanding a fleet of nine vessels, to proceed to 


MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. 


367 


the Mediterranean and chastise the Barbary sea-robbers into submission. 
On the 17th of June, Decatur, cruising near Gibraltar, fell in with the 
principal frigate of the Algerine squadron, and after a severe fight of 
twenty minutes compelled the Moorish ship to surrender. Thirty of the 
piratical crew, including the admiral, were killed, and more than four 
hundred taken prisoners. On the 19th Decatur captured another frigate, 
bearing twenty guns and a hundred and eight men. A few days after¬ 
ward he sailed into the Bay of Algiers, and dictated to the humbled and 
terrified dey the terms of a treaty. The Moorish emperor was obliged to 
release his American prisoners without ransom, to relinquish all claims to 
tribute, and to give a pledge that his ships should trouble American mer¬ 
chantmen no more. Decatur next sailed against Tunis and Tripoli, com¬ 
pelled both of these states to give pledges of good conduct, and to pay 
large sums for former violations of international law. From that day 
until the present the Barbary powers have had a wholesome dread of the 
American flag. 

20. The close of Madison’s troubled administration was signalized by 
the admission of Indiana—the smallest of the Western States—into the 
Union. The new commonwealth, admitted in December, 1816, came 
with an area of nearly thirty-four thousand square miles, and a popula¬ 
tion of ninety-eight thousand. About the same time was founded the 
Colonization Society of the United States. Many of the most distin¬ 
guished men in America became members of the association, the object 
of which was to provide somewhere in the world a refuge for free persons 
of color. Liberia, on the western coast of Africa, was finally selected as 
the seat of the proposed colony. A republican form of government was 
established there, and immigrants arrived in sufficient numbers to found 
a flourishing negro State. The capital was named Monrovia, in honor of 
James Monroe, who, in the fall of 1816, was elected as Madison’s suc- 
<jessor in the presidency. At the same time Daniel D. Tompkins of New 
York was chosen Vice-President. 


CHAPTER VII. 

AIONROE’S ADMINISTRATION. 

I N its political principles the new administration was Democratic. The 
policy of Madison was adopted by his successor. But the stormy 
times of Madison gave place to many years of almost unbroken peace. 

The new President was a native of Virginia; a man of great talents and 
24 



368 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES . 


accomplishments. He had been a Revolutionary soldier; a member oi 
the House of Representatives; a senator; governor of Virginia; envoy 
to France; minister to England; secretary of state under Madison. The 
members of the new cabinet were—John Quincy Adams, secretary of state; 
William H. Crawford, secretary of the treasury; John C. Calhoun, secre¬ 
tary of war; William Wirt, attorney-general. The animosities and party 
strifes of the previous years were in a measure forgotten. Statesmen of all 
parties devoted their energies to the payment of the national debt. It was 
a herculean task; but commerce revived; the government was economic¬ 
ally administered; population increased; wealth flowed in; and in a few 
years the debt was honestly paid. 

2. In December of 1817 the western portion of Mississippi Territory 
was organized as the State of Mississippi and admitted into the Union. 
The new State contained an area of forty-seven thousand square miles, 
and a population of sixty-five thousand souls. At the same time the 
attention of the government was called to a nest of buccaneers who had 
established themselves on Amelia Island, off the north-eastern coast of 
Florida. They claimed to be acting under the authority of some of the 
South American republics, but were in reality pirates. An armament 
was accordingly sent against them, and the lawless establishment was 
broken up. Another rendezvous of the same sort, on the island of Gal¬ 
veston, off the coast of Texas, was also suppressed. 

3. In the first year of Monroe’s administration the question of internal 
improvements began to be much agitated. The territorial vastness of the 
country made it necessary to devise suitable means of communication be¬ 
tween the distant parts. Without railroads and canals it was evident 
that the products of the great interior could never reach a market. Had 
Congress a right to vote money to make the needed improvements? 
Jefferson and Madison had both answered the question in the negative. 
Monroe held similar views; and a majority of Congress voted against 
the proposed appropriations. In one instance, however, a bill was passed 
appropriating the means necessary for the construction of a national road 
across the Alleghanies, from Cumberland to Wheeling. The question of 
internal improvements was then referred to the several States; and New 
York took the lead by constructing a splendid canal from Buffalo to 
Albany, a distance of three hundred and sixty-three miles. The cost of 
this important work was more than seven and a half million dollars, and 
the eight years of Monroe’s administration were occupied in completing it. 

4. In the latter part of 1817 the Seminole Indians on the frontiers of 
Georgia and Alabama became hostile. Some bad negroes and treacherous 
Creeks joined the savages in their depredations. General Gaines, com- 


MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. 


369 


mandant of a post on Flint River, was sent into the Seminole country, 
but after destroying a few villages his forces were found inadequate to 
conquer the Red men. General Jackson was then ordered to collect from 
the adjacent States a sufficient army and reduce the Seminoles to sub¬ 
mission. Instead of following his directions, that stern and self-willed 
man mustered a thousand riflemen from West Tennessee, and in the 
spring of 1818 overran the hostile country with little opposition. The 
Indians were afraid to fight the man whom they had named the Big 
Knife. 

5. While engaged in this expedition against the Seminoles, Jackson 
entered Florida and took possession of the Spanish post at St. Mark’s. 
He deemed it necessary to do so in order to succeed in suppressing the 
savages. The Spanish troops stationed at St. Mark’s were removed to 
Pensacola; and two Englishmen, named Arbuthnot and Ambrister, who 
fell into Jackson’s hands, were charged with inciting the Seminoles to in¬ 
surrection, tried by a court-martial, and hanged. Jackson then advanced 
against Pensacola, captured the town, besieged and took the fortress of 
Barancas, at the entrance to the bay, and sent the Spanish authorities to 
Havana. These summary proceedings excited much comment throughout 
the country. The enemies of General Jackson condemned him in un¬ 
measured terms; but the President and Congress justified his deeds. A 
resolution of censure, introduced into the House of Representatives, was 
voted down by a large majority. The king of Spain complained much; 
but his complaint was unheeded. Seeing that the defence of such a 
province would cost more than it was worth, the Spanish monarch then 
proposed to cede the territory to the United States. For this purpose 
negotiations were opened at Washington city; and on the 22d of Feb¬ 
ruary, 1819, a treaty was concluded by which East and Wesf Florida 
and the outlying islands were surrendered to the American government. 
In consideration of the cession the United States agreed to relinquish all 
claim to the territory of Texas and to pay to American citizens, for dep¬ 
redations committed by Spanish vessels, a sum not exceeding five million 
dollars. By the same treaty the eastern boundary of Mexico was fixed 
at the river Sabine. 

6. Monroe’s administration was noted for the great number of new 
members which were added to the Union. In 1818, Illinois, the twenty- 
first State, embracing an area of more than fifty-five thousand square 
miles, was organized and admitted. The population of the new common¬ 
wealth was forty-seven thousand. In December of the following year 
Alabama was added, with a population of a hundred and twenty-five 
thousand, and an area of nearly fifty-one thousand square miles. About 


370 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


the same time Arkansas Territory was organized out of the southern por¬ 
tion of the Territory of Missouri. Early in 1820 the province of Maine, 
which had been under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts since 1652, was 
separated from that government and admitted into the Union. At the 
time of admission the population of the new State had reached two hun¬ 
dred and ninety-eight thousand; and its territory embraced nearly thirty- 
two thousand square miles. In August of 1821 the great State of Mis¬ 
souri, with an area of sixty-seven thousand square miles, and a population 
of seventy-four thousand, was admitted as the twenty-fourth member of 
the Union; but the admission was attended with a political agitation so 
violent as to threaten the peace of the country. 

7. When the bill to admit Missouri was brought before Congress, a 
proposition was made in that body to prohibit slavery in the new State. 
This measure was strongly supported by the free States of the North, and 
as strongly opposed by the slaveholding States of the South. The country 
was sectionally divided. Congress was distracted with long and angry 
debates in which the whole question of slavery was discussed. At last 
Mr. Clay brought forward a plan of settlement which, after further dis¬ 
cussion, was adopted. This measure, known as the Missouri Com¬ 
promise, was one of the most important acts of American legislation. 
The principal conditions of the plan were these: first , the admission of 
Missouri as a slaveholding State; secondly, the division of the rest of the 
Louisiana purchase by the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes; 
thirdly, the admission of new States, to be formed out of the territory south 
of that line, with or without slavery, as the people might determine; 
fourthly, the prohibition of slavery in all the new States to be organized 
out of territory north of the dividing-line. By this compromise the 
slavery agitation was allayed until 1849. 

8. Meanwhile, the country had measurably recovered from the effects 
of the late war. With peace and plenty the resources of the nation were 
rapidly augmented. Toward the close of his term the President’s ad¬ 
ministration grew into high favor with the people; and in the fall of 
1820 he was re-elected with great unanimity. As Vice-President, Mr. 
Tompkins was also chosen for a second term. Scarcely had the excite¬ 
ment over the admission of Missouri subsided when the attention of the 
government was called to an alarming system of piracy which had sprung 
up in the West Indies. Early in 1822 the American frigate Congress, ac¬ 
companied with eight smaller vessels, was sent thither; and in the course 
of the year more than twenty piratical ships were captured. In the fol¬ 
lowing summer Commodore Porter was despatched with a larger fleet to 
cruise about Cuba and the neighboring islands. Such was his vigilance 


MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. 


371 



that the retreats of the sea-robbers were completely broken up; not a 
pirate was left afloat. 

9. At this time the countries of South America were disturbed with 
many revolutions. From the days of Pizarro these states had been de¬ 
pendencies of European monarchies. Now they declared their independ¬ 
ence, and struggled to maintain it by force of arms. The people of the 
United States, having achieved their own liberty, naturally sympathized 
with the patriots of the South. Mr. Clay urged upon the government 
the duty of giving official recognition to the South American republics. 
At last his views prevailed; and in March of 1822 a bill was passed by 
Congress recognizing the new states as sovereign nations. In the follow¬ 
ing year this action was followed up by the President with a vigorous 
message, in which he declared that for the future the American continents 
were not to he considered as subjects for colonization by any European 
poiver. This famous declaration constitutes what has ever since been 
known in the politics 
and diplomacy of the 
United States as the 
Monroe Doctrine 
—a doctrine by which 
the entire Western 
hemisphere is conse¬ 
crated to free institu¬ 
tions. 

10. Great was the 

joy of the American 
people in the summer 
of 1824. The vener¬ 
ated La Fayette, now 
aged and gray, re¬ 
turned once more to 
visit the land for whose 
freedom he had shed 
his blood. The honor¬ 
ed patriots who had 
fought by his side 
came forth to greet 
him. The younger la fayette. 

heroes crowded around 

him. In every city, and on every battle-field which he visited, he was 
surrounded by a throng of shouting freemen. His journey through the 





372 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


country was a triumph. It was a solemn and sacred moment when he 
stood alone by the grave of Washington. Over the dust of the great dead 
the patriot of France paid the homage of his tears. In September of 1825 
he bade a final adieu to the people who had made him their guest, and 
then sailed for his native land. At his departure, the frigate Brandywine 
—a name significant for him —was prepared to bear him away. While 
Liberty remains to cheer the West, the name of La Fayette shall be 
hallowed. 

11. Before the departure of the illustrious Frenchman another presi¬ 
dential election had been held. It was a time of great excitement and 
much division of sentiment. Four candidates were presented for the 
suffrages of the people. There was an appearance of sectionalism in the 
canvass. John Quincy Adams was put forward as the candidate of the 
East; William H. Crawford of Georgia as the choice of the South; Henry 
Clay and Andrew Jackson as the favorites of the West. Neither candi¬ 
date received a majority of the electoral votes, and for the second time in 
the history of the government the choice of President was referred to the 
House of Representatives. By that body Mr. Adams was duly elected. 
For Vice-President, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina had been chosen 
by the electoral college. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

ADAMS’S ADMINISTRATION, 1825-1829. 

T HE new President was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1825. He 
was a man of the highest attainments in literature and statesman¬ 
ship. At the age of eleven years he accompanied his father, John Adams, 
to Europe. At Paris and Amsterdam and St. Petersburg the son con¬ 
tinued his studies, and at the same time became acquainted with the 
manners and politics of the Old World. The vast opportunities of his 
youth were improved to the fullest extent. In his riper years he served 
his country as ambassador to the Netherlands, Portugal, Prussia, Russia 
and England. He had also held the offices of United States senator from 
Massachusetts, and secretary of state under Monroe. He brought to the 
presidential chair wisdom, experience and ability. 

2. The new administration was an epoch of peace and prosperity in the 
country; but the spirit of party manifested itself with much violence. 
The adherents of General Jackson and Mr. Crawford united in opposition 










Frederick Wil liain III. 


27. Acknowl 

edgment of the independ 

ence of Greece. 

Charles X. 

30. French ltevolu 

tion and election of 


Louis 

Philippe. 

28. Abo 

lition of the “ Test Act.” 



30. Polish Revolu 

tion. 


31. Fall of 

Warsaw. 


32. Pas 

sage of the Great Reform 

George IV. 

30. William IV. 



1825 


29 


33 


37 


41 


40. 


37. Attempted capture 


39. Suppr 
40.1 

bill by Parliament. 

37. Victoria. 


Mad 
ion < 

W 


John Q. Adams, 

25. Controversy concern 


26. John Adams 
26. Thomas Jeff 



John C. Calli 

28. Gr 


President. 

ing the lands of the Creek 

Andrew Jack 


The 


d. July 4. 
erson d. July 4. 


OUn, Vice-President. 

32. The 


eat political excitement 


Calhoun re-elected 
32. Grea 
32. The 
32. Proc 


T a»-g g»» 


-% 





Indians. 

SOU, President. 


36. Ar 


Black Hawk War. 


Jackson re-elected 


35. Seminole 


bill to recharter the Uni 
throughout the country. 

35. Removal 


Vice-President, 
t tariff excitement, 
doctrine of nullification de 
lamation by the President. 

Martin Van Buren, 
33. Passage of Mr. Clay’s 


33. Removal of Govern 


MEXICO. 


Santa Anna, President. 

36. The 

- j 


37. Michigan admitte 


into 


kansas admitted into til 


President. 


11 .' 


War. 

Martin Van B 


re; 


ted States Bank vetoed 1 
37. Failure of the Su tea 


of the Cherokees. 


40. P; 

11 . 
11 . 

dared by South Carolin; ^ 


Vice-President. 
Compromise bill. 




Richard M. Join 


ment funds from the Ui « 

37. Financial crisis. 


it 


San Antonio :t 

aken 

by the Texans. 

36.': 

H 

The Alamo. 

36. : r 

fEX 

AS INDEPENDENT 



38. Lamar, Pres! 

36. i 

in 

San Jacinto. 


38. Vera Cruzbesi 
“Central Republic” dec 

37. Bustamente, Pres 















































41 


45 


49 


53 


ederick William IV. 

Madrid by Don Carlos. 

ion of the Carlists in Sp 
body of Napoleon return 

48. Ou 
46. Election of Pius 
48. Re 
48. A 

48. Lo 

ain. 

ed to France. 

tbreak of the Hungarian 
IX. 52. Fall 

volution in France. ga 

republic proclaimed. 

uis Napoleon Bonapa 
52. Lo 

dent 
52. Lo 

Revolution. 

of Kossuth and the Hun- 
rian cause. 

rte elected President, 
uis Napoleon, Presi- 
for ten years, 
uis Napoleon, Emperor. 
54. The Crimean W ar. 


James K. Polk, 

President. 



45. Florida admitted into 

the Union. 


into the Union. 

43. The Dorr 

Union. ^4. First 

rebellion in Rhode Island. 
46. Iowa admitted 

telegraph line in the Uni 
48. Wis 

Zachary Taylor, 

(Died July 9, 
into the Union. 

ted States. 

consin admitted into the 

President. 

1850.) 

Fr’nklin Pierce, 

Union. [President. 


11. The Webster-Ashbur¬ 
ton treaty. 


aa 


ren, President. 

the President, 
reasury bill. 

William H. Har 

(Died April 4, 

age of the Treasury bill. 
1. Treasury bill repealed. 
1. Passage of the Bankru 
1. Veto of the United Sta 
and resignation of the 
dent’s Cabinet. 


46. The north-weste 
46. General Taylor 
46. Congress declar 


46. 


46. 


46. 


46. 


I Palo Alto. 

[ Resaca de 
fJaptureof 
[ £jkl Monterey. 




ll ISOll, Vice-President, 
n :d States bank. 


John Tyler, Vice- 

nd President from April, 


L. Houston, President. 
3nt. 


. Santa Anna, Presid 

:d by the French. 

■ed. 

:nt. 


George M. Dallas, 
48. Dis 

risoil, President. 
1841.) 


47. 


pt law. 
tes Bank, 
Presi- 


[ Bue 


47. 153 Ver 


President, 

1841. 


47. 


47. 


47. 


47. 


47. 


Cer 

Con 

Mol 

Cha 


rn boundary fixed at 49° 
ordered to the Rio Grande, 
es war against Mexico. 


la Palma. 
Matamoras. 


Vice-President, 
covery of gold in Californ 

Millard Fillmo 

President from 

na Vista. 


a Cruz. 


51. The Fugi 


Fall 
48. Tre 

45. Texas admitted into 

ent. : 


ro Gordo. 

50. Utah erected into 
treras. 


ino del Rey. 

49. New Mexico erected 

pultepec. 


of Mexico. 

aty of peace with Mexico 
the Union. 

50. The “ Omnibus 

50. California adm 
— 


54. Treaty with Ja¬ 
pan. 

54. Passage of the 
Kansas and 
Nebraska bill. 

54. The Missouri 
Compromise repealed 


ia. 54. Troubles in 
Kansas. 

I’D, Vice-President, and 
July, 1850. 

W. R. King, Vice-Pres. 
tive Slave law passed, 
a Territorial government. 


into a Territorial govern¬ 
ment. 


Bill ” passed, 
itted into the Union. 

















































































































































































































-iijl 






























































































































































ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION. 


373 


to the policy of the President; and there was a want of unanimity be¬ 
tween the different departments of the government. In the Senate the 
political friends of Mr. Adams were in a minority, and their majority in 
the lower House only lasted for one session. In his inaugural address 
the President strongly advocated the doctrine of internal improvements; 
but the adverse views of Congress prevented his recommendations from 
being adopted. 

3. For a quarter of a century a difficulty had existed between the 
government of the United States and Georgia in respect to the lands held 
in that State by the Creek Indians. When, in 1802, Georgia relinquished 
her claim to Mississippi Territory, the general government agreed to pur¬ 
chase and surrender to the State all the Creek lands lying within her own 
borders. This pledge on the part of the United States had never been 
fulfilled, and Georgia complained of bad faith. The difficulty became 
alarming; but finally, in March of 1826, a treaty was concluded between 
the Creek chiefs and the President, by which a cession of all their lands 
in Georgia was obtained. At the same time the Creeks agreed to remove 
to a new home beyond the Mississippi. 

4. On the 4th of July, 1826—just fifty years to a day after the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence—the venerable John Adams, second President of the 
United States, and his successor, Thomas Jefferson, both died. Both had 
lifted their voices for freedom in the early and perilous days of the Revo¬ 
lution. One had written and both had signed the great Declaration. 
Both had lived to see their country’s independence. Both had served 
that country in its highest official station. Both had reached extreme old 
age: Adams was ninety; Jefferson, eighty-two. Now, while the cannon 
were booming for the fiftieth birthday of the nation, the gray and honored 
patriots passed, almost at the same hour, from among the living. 

5. In the following September, William Morgan, a resident of Western 
New York, having threatened to publish the secrets of the Masonic fra¬ 
ternity, of which he was a member, suddenly disappeared from his home, 
and was never heard of afterward. The Masons fell under the suspicion 
of having abducted and murdered him. A great clamor was raised 
against them in New York, and the excitement extended to other parts 
of the country. The issue between the Masons and their enemies became 
a political one, and many eminent men were embroiled in the controversy. 
For several years the anti-Masonic party exercised a considerable influence 
in the elections of the country. De Witt Clinton, one of the most promi¬ 
nent and valuable statesmen of New York, had to suffer much, in loss of 
reputation, from his membership in the order. His last days were clouded 
with the odium which for the time being attached to the Masonic name. 


374 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


6. In the congressional debates of 1828 the question of the tariff was 
much discussed. By a tariff is understood a duty levied on imported 
goods. The object of the same is twofold: first, to produce a revenue 
for the government; and secondly, to raise the price of the article on 
which the duty is laid, in order that the domestic manufacturer of the 
thing taxed may be able to compete with the foreign producer. When 
the duty is levied for the latter purpose, it is called a protective tariff. 
Whether it is sound policy for a nation to have protective duties is a 
question which has been much debated in all civilized countries. Mr. 
Adams and his friends decided in favor of a tariff; and in 1828 the duties 
on fabrics made of wool, cotton, linen and silk, and those on articles 
manufactured of iron, lead, etc., were much increased. The object of such 
legislation was to stimulate the manufacturing interests of the country. 
The question of the tariff has always been a sectional issue. The people 
of the Eastern and Middle States, where factories abound, have favored 
protective duties; while in the agricultural regions of the South and 
West such duties have been opposed. 

7. With the fall of 1828 came another presidential election. The 
contest was specially exciting. Mr. Adams, supported by Mr. Clay, the 
secretary of state, was put forward for re-election. In accordance with 
an understanding which had existed for several years, General Jackson 
appeared as the candidate of the opposition. In the previous election 
Jackson had received more electoral votes than Adams; but disregarding 
the popular preference, the House of Representatives had chosen the lat¬ 
ter. Now the people were determined to have their way; and Jackson 
was triumphantly elected, receiving a hundred and seventy-eight electoral 
votes against eighty-three for his opponent. As soon as the election was 
over, the excitement—as usual in such cases—abated; and the thoughts 
of the people were turned to other subjects. 


CHAPTER IX. 

JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION, 1829-1887. 

T HE new President was a military hero. But he was more than that: 

a man of great native powers and inflexible honesty. His talents 
were strong but unpolished ; his integrity unassailable; his will like iron. 
He was one of those men for whom no toils are too arduous, no responsi¬ 
bility too great. His personal character was strongly impressed upon his 



JA CKSON ’S A DM INIS TRA TION. 


375 



administration. Believing that the public affairs would be best conducted 
by such means, he removed nearly seven hundred office-holders, and ap- 
pointed in their stead 
his own political 
friends. In defence 
of such a course the 
precedent established 
by Mr. Jefferson was 
pleaded. 

2. In his first an¬ 
nual message the 
President took strong 
ground against rechar¬ 
tering the Bank of the 
United States. Be¬ 
lieving that institution 
to be both inexpedient 
and unconstitutional, 
he recommended that 
the old charter should 
be allowed to expire 
by its own limitation 
in 1836. But the in¬ 
fluence of the bank, 
with its many branches, Andrew jackson. 

was very great; and 

in 1832 a bill to recharter was brought before Congress and passed. To 
this measure the President opposed his veto; and since a two-thirds ma¬ 
jority in favor of the bill could not be secured, the proposition to grant a 
new charter failed, and the bank ceased by the original limitation. 

3. The reopening of the tariff question occasioned great excitement in 
Congress and throughout the country. In the session of 1831-32 addi¬ 
tional duties were levied upon manufactured goods imported from abroad. 
By this act the manufacturing districts were again favored at the expense 
of the agricultural States. South Carolina was specially offended. A 
great convention of her people was held, and it was resolved that the 
tariff-law of Congress was unconstitutional, and therefore null and void. 
Open resistance was threatened in case the officers of the government 
should attempt to collect the revenues in the harbor of Charleston. In 
the United States Senate the right of a State, under certain circumstances, 
to nullify an act of Congress was boldly proclaimed. On that issue 


376 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


occurred the famous debate between the eloquent Colonel Hayne, senator 
from South Carolina, and Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, perhaps the 

greatest master of 
American oratory. 
The former appeared 
as the champion of 
State rights, and the 
latter as the advocate 
of constitutional su¬ 
premacy. 

4. But the question 
was not decided by 
debate. The President 
took the matter in hand 
and issued a proclama¬ 
tion denying the right 
of any State to nullify 
the laws of Congress. 
But Mr. Calhoun, the 
Vice-President, 
resigned his office to 
accept a seat in the 
Senate, where he might 
better defend the doc¬ 
trines of his State. 
The President, having 
warned the people of South Carolina against pursuing those doctrines 
further, ordered a body of troops under General Scott to proceed to 
Charleston, and also sent thither a man-of-war. At this display of force 
the leaders of the nullifying party quailed and receded from their posi¬ 
tion. Bloodshed was happily avoided; and in the following spring the 
excitement was allayed by a compromise. Mr. Clay brought forward and 
secured the passage of a bill providing for a gradual reduction of the 
duties complained of until, at the end of ten years, they should reach the 
standard demanded by the South. 

5. In the spring of 1832 the Sac, Fox and Winnebago Indians of Wis¬ 
consin Territory began a war. They were incited and led by the famous 
chief Black Hawk, who, like many great sachems before him, believed in 
the possibility of an Indian confederacy sufficiently powerful to beat back 
the whites. The lands of the Sacs and Foxes, lying in the Rock River 
country of Illinois, had been purchased by the government twenty-five 




JACKSON’S ADMINISTRATION. 


377 


years previously. The Indians, however, remained in the ceded terri¬ 
tory, since there was no occasion for immediate occupation by the whites. 
When at last, after a quarter of a century, the Indians were required to 
give possession, they caviled at the old treaty, and refused to comply. 
The government insisted that the Red men should fulfill their contract, 
and hostilities began on the frontier. The governor of Illinois called out 
the militia, and General Scott was sent with nine companies of artillery 
to Chicago. At that place his forces were overtaken with the cholera, 
and he was prevented from co-operating with the troops of General 
Atkinson. The latter, however, waged a vigorous campaign against the 
Indians, defeated them in several actions, and made Black Hawk prisoner. 
The captive chieftain was taken to Washington and the great cities of the 
East, where his understanding was opened as to the power of the nation 
against Avhich he had been foolish enough to lift his hatchet. Returning 
to his own people, he advised them that resistance was hopeless. The 
warriors then abandoned the disputed lands and retired into Iowa. 

6. Difficulties also arose with the Cherokees of Georgia. These were 
the most civilized and humane of all the Indian nations. They had 
adopted the manners of the whites. They had pleasant farms, goodly 
towns, schools, printing-presses, a written code of laws. The government 
of the United States had given to Georgia a pledge to purchase the 
Cherokee lands for the benefit of the State. The pledge was not ful¬ 
filled ; the authorities of Georgia grew tired of waiting for the removal 
of the Indians; and the legislature passed a statute by which the govern¬ 
ment of the Red men was abrogated and the laws of the State extended 
over the Indian domain. With singular illiberality, it was at the same 
time enacted that the Cherokees and Creeks should not have the use of 
the State courts or the protection of the laws. This code, however, was 
declared unconstitutional by the supreme court of the United States. 
The Indians then appealed to the President for help; but he refused to 
interpose between them and the laws of Georgia. He also recommended 
the removal of the Cherokees to lands beyond the Mississippi; and with 
this end in view, the Indian Territory was organized in the year 1834. 
The Indians yielded with great reluctance. More than five million dol¬ 
lars were paid them for their lands; but still they clung to their homes. 
At last General Scott was ordered to remove them to the new territory, 
using force if necessary to accomplish the work. The years 1837-38 
were occupied with the final transfer of the Cherokees to their homes in 
the West. 

7. More serious still was the conflict with the Seminoles of Florida. 
The trouble arose from an attempt on the part of the government to re- 


378 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


move the tribe to a new domain beyond the Mississippi. Hostilities 
began in 1835, and continued for four years. The chief of the Seminoles 
was Osceola, a half-breed of great talents and audacity. He and Micanopy, 
another chieftain, denied the validity of a former treaty by which the 
Seminole lands had been ceded to the government. So haughty was the 
bearing of Osceola that General Thompson, the agent of the government 
in Florida, arrested him and put him in irons. The red warrior dis¬ 
sembled his purpose, gave his assent to the old treaty, and was liberated. 
As might have been foreseen, he immediately entered into a conspiracy 
to slaughter the whites and devastate the country. 

8. At this time the interior of Florida was held by General Clinch, 
who had his headquarters at Fort Drane, seventy-five miles south-west 
from St. Augustine. The post was considered in danger; and Major 
Dade with a hundred and seventeen men was despatched from Fort 
Brooke, at the head of Tampa Bay, to reinforce General Clinch. After 
marching about half the distance, Dade’s forces fell into an ambuscade, 
and were all massacred except one man who was left alive under a heap 
of the dead. On the same day Osceola with a band of warriors, prowling 
around Fort King, on the Ocklawaha, surrounded a storehouse where 
General Thompson was dining with a company of friends. The savages 
poured in a murderous fire, and then rushed forward and scalped the 
dead before the garrison of the fort, only two hundred and fifty yards 
away, could bring assistance. General Thompson’s body, was pierced by 
fifteen balls; and four of his nine companions were killed. 

9. On the 31st of December General Clinch fought a battle with the 
Indians on the banks of the Withlacoochie. The savages were repulsed, 
but Clinch thought it prudent to retreat to Fort Drane. In the following 
February General Scott took command of the American forces in Florida. 
On the 29th of the same month General Gaines, who was advancing from 
the West with a force of a thousand men for the relief of Fort Drane, was 
attacked near the battle-field where Clinch had fought. The Seminoles 
made a furious onset, but were repulsed with severe losses. In May some 
straggling Creeks who still remained in the country began hostilities; but 
they were soon subdued and compelled to seek their reservation beyond 
the Mississippi. In October of 1836 Governor Call of Florida marched 
with a force of two thousand men against the Indians of the interior. 
A division of his army overtook the enemy in the Wahoo Swamp, a short 
distance from the scene of Dade’s massacre. A battle ensued, and the 
Indians were driven into the Everglades with considerable losses. Soon 
afterward another engagement was fought on nearly the same ground; 
and again the savages were beaten, though not decisively. The re- 


JACKSON’S ADMINISTRATION. 


379 


mainder of the history of the Seminole War belongs to the following 
administration. 

10. In the mean time, the President had given a final quietus to the 
Bank of the United States. After vetoing the bill to recharter that insti¬ 
tution, he conceived that the surplus funds which had accumulated in its 
vaults would better be distributed among the States. He had no warrant 
of law for such a step; but believing himself to be in the right, he did 
not hesitate to take the responsibility. Accordingly, in October of 1833, 
he ordered the accumulated funds of the great bank, amounting to about 
ten million dollars, to be distributed among certain State banks designated 
for that purpose. This action on the part of the President was denounced 
by the opposition as a measure of incalculable mischief—unwarranted, 
arbitrary, dangerous. The financial panic of 1836-37, following soon 
afterward, was attributed to the destruction of the national bank and the 
removal of the funds. To these strictures the adherents of the President 
replied that the pecuniary distresses of the country were attributable to 
the bank itself, which was declared to be an institution too powerful and 
despotic to exist in a free government. The President was but little con¬ 
cerned about the excitement: he had just entered upon his second term, 
with Martin Van Buren for Vice-President instead of Mr. Calhoun. 

11. In 1834 the strong will of the chief magistrate was brought into 
conflict with France. The American government held an old claim 
against that country for damages done to the commerce of the United 
States in the wars of Napoleon. In 1831 the French king had agreed to 
pay five million dollars for the alleged injuries; but the dilatory govern¬ 
ment of France postponed and neglected the payment until the President, 
becoming wrathful, recommended to Congress to make reprisals on French 
commerce, and at the same time directed the American minister at 
Paris to demand his passports and come home. These measures had 
the desired effect, and the indemnity was promptly paid. The gov¬ 
ernment of Portugal was brought to terms in a similar manner. 

12. The country, though flourishing, was not without calamities. 
Several eminent statesmen fell by the hand of death. On the 4th of 
July, 1831, ex-President Monroe passed away. Like Jefferson and 
Adams, he sank to rest amid the rejoicings of the national anniversary. 
In the following year Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving 
signer of the Declaration of Independence, died at the age of ninety-six. 
A short time afterward Philip Freneau, the poet of the Revolution, de¬ 
parted from the land of the living. The patriot bard had reached the 
age of eighty. On the 24th of June, 1833, John Randolph of Roanoke 
died in Philadelphia. He was a man admired for his talents, dreaded for 


380 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


his wit and sarcasm, and respected for his integrity as a statesman. In 
1835 Chief-Justice Marshall breathed his last, at the age of fourscore 
years; and in the next year ex-President Madison, worn with the toils 
of eighty-five years, passed away. To these losses of life must be added 
two great disasters to property. On the 16th of December, 1835, a fire 
broke out in the lower part of New York city and laid thirty acres of 
buildings in ashes. Five hundred and twelity-nine houses and property 
valued at eighteen million dollars were consumed. Just one year after¬ 
ward the Patent Office and Post-Office at Washington were destroyed in 
the same manner. 

13. Jackson’s administration was signalized by the addition of two new 
States. In June of 1836 Arkansas was admitted, with an area of fifty- 
two thousand square miles, and a population of seventy thousand. In 
January of the following year Michigan Territory was organized as a 
State and added to the Union. The new commonwealth brought a popu¬ 
lation of a hundred and fifty-seven thousand, and an area of fifty-six 
thousand square miles. The administration was already within two 
months of its close. In the autumn of the previous year Martin Van 
Buren had been elected President. The opposing candidate was General 
Harrison of Ohio, who received the support of the new Whig party. As 
to the vice-presidency, no one secured a majority in the electoral college, 
and the choice devolved on the Senate. By that body Colonel Richard 
M. Johnson of Kentucky was duly elected. 


CHAPTER X. 

VAN BUREN 1 S ADMINISTRATION, 1837-1841. 

M ARTIN VAN BUREN, eighth President of the United States, 
was born at Kinderhook, New York, on the 5th of December, 
1782. After receiving a limited education he became a student of law. 
In his thirtieth year he was elected to the Senate of his native State; and 
in 1821 was chosen United States senator. Seven years afterward he was 
elected governor of New York, and was then appointed minister to Eng¬ 
land. From that important mission he returned in 1833 to assume the 
duties of the vice-presidency. Now he was called to the highest office in 
the gift of the people. 



VAN BUREN’S ADMINISTRATION. 


381 


2. (Jne of the first duties of the new administration was to finish the 
Seminole War. In the beginning of 1837 the command of the army in 
Florida was transferred from General Scott to General Jessup. In the 
following fall Osceola came to the American camp with a flag of truce; 
but he was suspected of treachery, seized, and sent a prisoner to Fort 
Moultrie, where he died in 1838. The Seminoles, though disheartened 
by the loss of their chief, continued the war. In December Colonel 
Zachary Taylor, with a force of over a thousand men, marched, into the 
Everglades of Florida, determined to fight the savages in their lairs. 
After unparalleled sufferings he overtook them, on Christmas day, near 
Lake Okeechobee. A hard battle was fought, and the Indians were de¬ 
feated, but not until a hundred and thirty-nine of the whites had fallen. 
For more than a year Taylor continued to hunt the Red men through the 
swamps. In 1839 the chiefs sent in their submission and signed a treaty; 
but their removal to the West was made with much reluctance and delay. 

3. In the first year of Van Buren’s administration the country was afflicted 
with a monetary panic of the most serious character. The preceding years 
had been a time of great prosperity. The national debt was entirely liqui¬ 
dated, and a surplus of nearly forty million dollars had accumulated in 
the treasury of the United States. By act of Congress this vast sum had 
been distributed among the several States. Owing to the abundance of 
money, speculations of al 1 sorts grew rife. The credit system pervaded every 
department of business. The banks of the country were suddenly multi¬ 
plied to nearly seven hundred. Vast issues of irredeemable paper money 
stimulated the speculative spirit and increased the opportunities for fraud. 

4. The bills of these unsound banks were receivable at the land-offices; 
and settlers and speculators made a rush to secure the public lands while 
money was plentiful. Seeing that in receiving such an unsound currency 
in exchange for the national domain the government was likely to be 
defrauded out of millions, President Jackson had issued an order called 
the Specie Circular, by which the land-agents were directed hence¬ 
forth to receive nothing but coin in payment for the lands. The effects 
of this circular came upon the nation in the first year of Van Buren’s 
administration. The interests of the government had been secured by 
Jackson’s vigilance; but the business of the country was prostrated by 
the shock. The banks suspended specie payment. Mercantile houses 
failed; and disaster swept through every avenue of trade. During the 
months of March and April, 1837, the failures in New York and New 
Orleans amounted to about a hundred and fifty million dollars. A com¬ 
mittee of business men from the former city besought the President to 
rescind the specie circular and to call a special session of Congress. The 


382 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


former request was refused and the latter complied with; but not until 
the executive was driven by the distresses of the country. 

5. When Congress convened in the following September, several measures 
of relief were brought forward. A bill authorizing the issue of treasury 
notes, not to exceed ten millions of dollars, was passed as a temporary ex¬ 
pedient. More important by far was the measure proposed by the Presi¬ 
dent and brought before Congress under the name of the Independent 
Treasury Bill. By the provisions of this remarkable project the 
public funds of the nation were to be kept on deposit in a treasury to be 
established for that special purpose. It was argued by Mr. Yan Buren 
and his friends that the surplus money of the country would drift into 
the independent treasury and lodge there; and that by this means the 
speculative mania would be effectually checked; for extensive speculations 
could not be carried on without an abundant currency. It was in the 
nature of the President’s plan to separate the business of the United States 
from the general business of the country. 

6. The independent treasury bill was passed by the Senate, but de¬ 
feated in the House of Representatives. But in the following regular 
session of Congress the bill was again brought forward and adopted. In 
the mean time, the business of the country had in a measure revived. 
During the year 1838 most of the banks resumed specie payments. 
Commercial affairs assumed their wonted aspect; but trade was less 
vigorous than before. Enterprises of all kinds languished, and the people 
were greatly disheartened. Discontent prevailed ; and the administration 
was blamed with everything. 

7. In the latter part of 1837 there was an insurrection in Canada. A 
portion of the people, dissatisfied with the British government, broke out 
in revolt and attempted to establish their independence. The insurgents 
found much sympathy and encouragement in the United States, especially 
in New York. From that State a party of seven hundred men, taking 
arms, seized and fortified Navy Island, in the Niagara River. The 
loyalists of Canada attempted to capture the place, and failed. They suc¬ 
ceeded, however, in firing the Caroline , the supply-ship of the adven¬ 
turers, cut her moorings, and sent the burning vessel over Niagara Falls. 
These events created considerable excitement, and the peaceful relations 
of the United States and Great Britain were endangered. But the Presi¬ 
dent issued a proclamation of neutrality, forbidding interference with the 
affairs of Canada; and General Wool was sent to the Niagara frontier 
with a sufficient force to quell the disturbance and punish the disturbers. 
The New York insurgents on Navy Island were obliged to surrender, 
and order was soon restored. 


ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER. 


383 


8. Otherwise, the administration of Van Boren was uneventful. He 
became a candidate for re-election, and received the support of the Demo¬ 
cratic party. The Whigs again put forward General Harrison. The 
canvass was one ot the most exciting in the history of the country. The 
leaders of the opposition poured out all their wrath upon the luckless and 
unprosperous administration of Van Buren; and Harrison was triumph¬ 
antly elected. After controlling the government for forty years, the 
Democratic party was temporarily routed. For Vice-President, John 
Tyler of Virginia was chosen. 


CHAPTER XI. 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER , mi-1845. 

fTlHE new President was a Virginian by birth, and the adopted son of 
J- Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution. He was a graduate 
of Hampden-Sidney College, and afterward a student of medicine. At¬ 
tracted by the military life, he entered the army of St. Clair; was rapidly 
promoted; became lieutenant-governor and then governor of Indiana Ter¬ 
ritory, which office he filled with great ability. His military career in 
the North-west has already been narrated. He was inaugurated Presi¬ 
dent on the 4th of March, 1841, and began his duties by issuing a call for 
a special session of Congress to consider “ sundry important matters con¬ 
nected with the finances of the country.” An able cabinet was organized, 
at the head of which was Daniel Webster as secretary of state. Every¬ 
thing promised well for the new Whig administration; but before Con¬ 
gress could convene, the venerable President, bending under the weight 
of sixty-eight years, fell sick, and died just one month after his inaugura¬ 
tion. It was the first time that such a calamity had befallen the American 
people. Profound and universal grief was manifested at the sad event. 
On the 6th of April Mr. Tyler took the oath of office, and became Presi¬ 
dent of the United States. 

2. He was a statesman of considerable distinction; a native of Vir¬ 
ginia; a graduate of William and Mary College. At an early age he 
left the profession of law to enter public life; was chosen a member of 
Congress; and in 1825 was elected governor of Virginia. From that 
position he was sent to the Senate of the United States; and now at the 
25 



384 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


age of fifty-one was called to the presidency. He had been put upon the 
ticket with General Harrison through motives of expediency; for although 
a Whig in political principles, he was known to be hostile to the United 
States Bank. And this hostility was soon to be manifested in a remark¬ 
able manner. 

3. The special session of Congress continued from May till September. 
One of the first measures proposed and carried was the repeal of the in¬ 
dependent treasury bill. A general bankrupt law was then brought for¬ 
ward and passed, by which a great number of insolvent business men 
were relieved from the disabilities of debt. The next measure—a favorite 
scheme of the Whigs—was the rechartering of the Bank of the United 
States. The old charter had expired in 1836; but the bank had con¬ 
tinued in operation under the authority of the State of Pennsylvania. 
Now a bill to recharter was brought forward and passed. The President 
interposed his veto. Again the bill was presented, in a modified form, 
and received the assent of both Houses, only to be rejected by the execu¬ 
tive. By this action a final rupture was produced between the President 
and the party which had elected him. The indignant Whigs, baffled by 
a want of a two-thirds majority in Congress, turned upon him with storms 
of invective. All the members of the cabinet except Mr. Webster re¬ 
signed; and he retained his place only because of a pending difficulty 
with Great Britain. 

4. The difficulty was in the nature of a dispute about the north-eastern 
boundary of the United States. From the time of the treaty of 1783 the 
limit of the country on the north-east had been a matter of controversy. 
Sometimes the difficulty grew serious and portended war. Lord Ash¬ 
burton on the part of Great Britain, and Mr. Webster on the part of the 
United States, were called upon to settle the dispute. They performed 
their work in a manner honorable to both nations; the present boundary 
was fixed; and on the 20th of August, 1842, the treaty was approved by 
the Senate. 

5. In the next year the country was vexed with a domestic trouble. 
For nearly two centuries the government of Rhode Island had been ad¬ 
ministered under a charter granted by Charles II. By the terms of that 
ancient instrument the right of suffrage was restricted to those who held 
a certain amount of property. There were other clauses repugnant to the 
spirit of republicanism ; and a proposition was made to change the consti¬ 
tution of the State. On that issue the people of Rhode Island were nearly 
unanimous; but in respect to the manner of abrogating the old charter 
there was a serious division. One faction, called the “ law and order 
party,” proceeding in accordance with the former constitution, chose 


ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER . 


385 


Samuel W. King as governor. The other faction, called the a suffrage 
party,” acting in an irregular way, elected Thomas W. Dorr. In May 
of 1842 both parties met and organized their rival governments. 

6. The “law and order party” now undertook to suppress the faction 
of Dorr. The latter resisted and made an attempt to capture the State 
arsenal. But the militia, under direction of King’s officers, drove the 
assailants away. A month later the adherents of Dorr again appeared in 
arms, but were dispersed by the troops of the United States. Dorr fled 
from Rhode Island; returned soon afterward, was caught, tried for trea¬ 
son, convicted, and sentenced to imprisonment for life. He was then 
offered pardon on condition of taking an oath of allegiance. This he 
stubbornly refused to do; and in June of 1845 obtained his liberty with¬ 
out conditions. 

7. About the same time a disturbance occurred in New York. Until 
the year 1840 the descendants of Van Rensselaer, one of the old Dutch 
patroons of New Netherland, had held a claim on certain lands in the 
counties of Rensselaer, Columbia and Delaware. In liquidation of this 
claim they had continued to receive from the farmers certain trifling rents. 
At last the farmers grew tired of the payment, and rebelled. From 1840 
until 1844 the question was frequently discussed in the New York legis¬ 
lature ; but no satisfactory settlement was reached. In the latter year the 
anti-rent party became so bold as to coat with tar and feathers those of 
their fellow-tenants who made the payments. Officers were sent to ap¬ 
prehend the rioters; and them they killed. Time and again the authori¬ 
ties of the State were invoked to quell the disturbers; and the question in 
dispute has never been permanently settled. 

8. Of a different sort was the difficulty with the Mormons, who now 
began to play a part in the history of the country. Under the leadership 
of their prophet, Joseph Smith, they made their first important settlement 
in Jackson county, Missouri. Here their numbers increased to fully fifteen 
hundred; and they began to say that the great West was to be their in¬ 
heritance. Not liking their neighbors or their practices, the people of 
Missouri determined to be rid of them. As soon as opportunity offered, 
the militia was called out, and the Mormons were obliged to leave the 
State. In the spring of 1839 they crossed the Mississippi into Illinois, 
and on a high bluff overlooking the river laid out a city which they 
called Nauvoo, meaning the Beautiful. Here they built a splendid 
temple. Other Mormons from different parts of the Union and from 
Europe came to join the community, until the number was swelled to ten 
thousand. Again popular suspicion was aroused against them. Under 
the administration of Smith laws were enacted contrary to the statute of 


386 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Illinois. The people charged the Mormons with the commission of cer¬ 
tain thefts and murders; and it was believed that the courts in the 
neighborhood of Nauvoo would be powerless to convict the criminals. 

9. In the midst of much excitement Smith and his brother were 
arrested, taken to Carthage, and lodged in jail. On the 27th of June, 
1844, a mob gathered, broke open the jail doors, and killed the pris¬ 
oners. During the rest of the summer there were many scenes of vio¬ 
lence. In 1845 the charter of Nauvoo was annulled by the legisla¬ 
ture of Illinois. Most of the Mormons gave up in despair and 
resolved to exile themselves beyond the limits of civilization. In 
1846 they began their march to the far West. In September Nauvoo 
was cannonaded for three days, and the remnant of inhabitants driven 
to join their companions at Council Bluffs. Thence they dragged 
themselves wearily westward; crossed the Rocky Mountains; reached 
the basin of the Great Salt Lake; and founded Utah Territory. 

10. Meanwhile, a great agitation had arisen in the country in regard to 
the republic of Texas. From 1821 to 1836 this vast territory lying be¬ 
tween Louisiana and Mexico, had been a province of the latter country. 
For a long time it had been the policy of Spain and Mexico to keep 
Texas uninhabited, in order that the vigorous race of Americans might 
not encroach on the Mexican borders. At last, however, a large land- 
grant was made to Moses Austin of Connecticut, on condition that he 
would settle three hundred American families within the limits of his do¬ 
main. Afterward the grant was confirmed to his son Stephen, with the 
privilege of establishing five hundred additional families of immigrants. 
Thus the foundation of Texas was laid by people of the English race. 

11. Owing to the oppressive policy adopted by Mexico, the Texans, in 
the year 1835, raised the standard of rebellion. Many adventurers and 
some heroes from the United States flocked to their aid. In the first 
battle, fought at Gonzales, a thousand Mexicans were defeated by a Texan 
force numbering five hundred. On the 6th of March, 1836, a Texan 
fort, called the Alamo, was surrounded by a Mexican army of eight thou¬ 
sand, commanded by President Santa Anna. The feeble garrison was 
overpowered and massacred under circumstances of great atrocity. The 
daring David Crockett, an ex-congressman of Tennessee, and a famous 
hunter, was one of the victims of the butchery. In the next month was 
fought the decisive battle of San Jacinto, which gave to Texas her free¬ 
dom. The independence of the new State was acknowledged by the 
United States, Great Britain and France. 

12. As soon as the people of Texas had thrown off the Mexican yoke 
they asked to be admitted into the Union. At first the proposition was 
declined by President Van Buren, who feared a war with Mexico. In 


ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER. 


387 



the last year of Tyler’s administration the question of annexation was 
again agitated. The population of Texas had increased to more than two 
hundred thousand souls. The territory embraced an area of two hundred 
and thirty-seven thousand square miles—a domain more than five times 
as large as the State of Pennsylvania. It was like annexing an empire. 
The proposition to admit Texas into the Union was the great question on 
which the people divided in the presidential election of 1844. The an¬ 
nexation was favored by the Democrats and opposed by the Whigs. The 
parties were equally matched in strength; and the contest surpassed in 
excitement anything which had been known in American politics. James 
K. Polk of Tennessee was put forward as the Democratic candidate, while 
the Whigs chose their favorite leader, Henry Clay. The former was 
elected, and the hope of the latter to reach the presidency was forever 
eclipsed. For Vice- 
President, George M. 

Dallas of Pennsyl¬ 
vania was chosen. 

13. The convention 
by which Mr. Polk 
was nominated was 
held at B a 11 i m o r e. 

On the 29th of May, 

1844, the news of the 
nomination was sent 
to Washington by 
the Magnetic 
Telegraph. It was 
the first despatch ever 
so transmitted ; and 
the event marks an 
era in the history of 
civilization. The in¬ 
ventor of the telegraph, 
which has proved so 
great a blessing to 

mankind, was Pro- professor morse. 

fessor Samuel F. B. 

Morse of Massachusetts. The magnetic principle on which the invention 
depends had been known since 1774; but Professor Morse was the first 
to apply that principle for the benefit of men. He began his experiments 
in 1832 : and five years afterward succeeded in obtaining a patent on his 


388 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


invention. Then followed another long delay; and it was not until the 
last day of the session in 1843 that he procured from Congress an appro¬ 
priation of thirty thousand dollars. With that appropriation was con¬ 
structed between Baltimore and Washington the first telegraphic line in 
the world. Perhaps no other invention has exercised a more beneficent 
influence on the welfare and happiness of the human race. 

14. When Congress convened in December of 1844, the proposition to 
admit Texas into the Union was formally brought forward. During the 
winter the question was frequently debated; and on the 1st of March—only 
three days before Tyler’s retirement from the presidency—the bill of an¬ 
nexation was adopted. The President immediately gave his assent; and 
the Lone Star took its place in the constellation of the States. On the 
day before the inauguration of Mr. Polk bills for the admission of Florida 
and Iowa were also signed; but the latter State—the twenty-ninth mem¬ 
ber of the American Union—was not formally admitted until the follow¬ 
ing year. 


CHAPTER XII. 

POLK'S ADMINISTRATION AND THE MEXICAN WAR, 1845-1849. 

P RESIDENT POLK was a native of North Carolina. In boyhood 
he removed with his father to Tennessee; entered the legislature of 
the State; and was then elected to Congress, where he served as member 
or speaker for fourteen years. In 1839 he was chosen governor of Ten¬ 
nessee, and from that position was called, at the early age of forty-nine, 
to the presidential chair. At the head of the new cabinet was placed 
James Buchanan of Pennsylvania. It was an office requiring high abili¬ 
ties ; for the threatening question with Mexico came at once to a crisis. 
As soon as the resolution to annex Texas was adopted by Congress, 
Almonte, the Mexican minister at Washington, demanded his passports 
and left the country. 

2. On the 4th of July, 1845, the Texan legislature ratified the act of 
annexation ; and the union was completed. Knowing the warlike deter¬ 
mination of Mexico, the authorities of Texas sent an immediate and 
urgent request to the President to despatch an army for their protection. 
Accordingly, General Zachary Taylor was ordered to march from Camp 
Jessup, in Western Louisiana, and occupy Texas. The real question at 



POLK S ADMINISTRATION. 


389 


issue between that State and Mexico was concerning boundaries. Texas 
claimed the Rio Grande as her western limit, while Mexico was deter¬ 
mined to have the Nueces as the separating line. The territory between 
these two rivers was in dispute. The government of the United States 
made a proposal to settle the controversy by negotiation, but the authori¬ 
ties of Mexico scornfully refused. This refusal was construed by the 
Americans as a virtual acknowledgment that the Mexicans were in the 
wrong, and that the Rio Grande might justly be claimed as the boundary. 
Instructions were accordingly sent to General Taylor to advance his army 
as near to that river as circumstances would warrant. Under these orders 
he moved forward to Corpus Christi, at the mouth of the Nueces, estab¬ 
lished a camp, and by the beginning of November, 1845, had concentrated 
a force of between four and five thousand men. 

3. In the following January General Taylor was ordered to advance to 
the Rio Grande. It was known that the Mexican government had re¬ 
solved not to receive the American ambassador sent thither to negotiate 
a settlement. It had also transpired that an army of Mexicans was 
gathering in the northern part of the country for the invasion of Texas, 
or, at any rate, for the occupation of the disputed territory. On the 8th 
of March the American army began the advance from Corpus Christi to 
Point Isabel, on the gulf. At that place General Taylor established a 
depot of supplies, and then pressed forward to the Rio Grande. Arriving 
at the river a few miles above the mouth, he took his station opposite 
Matamoras and hastily erected a fortress, afterward named Fort Brown. 

4. On the 26th of April, General Ampudia, commander of the Mexican 
forces on the frontier, notified General Taylor that hostilities had begun. 
On the same day a company of American dragoons, 
commanded by Captain Thornton, was attacked by 
a body of Mexicans, east of the Rio Grande , and 
after losing sixteen men in killed and wounded, 
was obliged to surrender. This was the first blood¬ 
shed of the war. General Taylor, alarmed lest 
the Mexicans should make a circuit and capture 
his stores at Point Isabel, hastened to that place 
and strengthened the defences. The fort opposite 
Matamoras was left under command of Major 
Brown with a garrison of three hundred men. 

5. As soon as his supplies at Point Isabel were 
deemed secure, General Taylor set out with a provision-train and an army 
of more than two thousand men to return to Fort Brown. Meanwhile, 
the Mexicans to the number of six thousand had crossed the Rio Grande 



SCENE OF TAYLOR’S CAM¬ 
PAIGN, 1846-47. 




390 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


and taken a strong position at Palo Alto, directly in Taylor’s route. At 
noon on the 8th of May the Americans came in sight and immediately 
joined battle. After a severe engagement of five hours’ duration the 
Mexicans were driven from the field, with the loss of a hundred men. 
The American artillery was served with signal effect; while the fighting 
of the enemy was clumsy and ineffectual. Only four Americans were 
killed and forty wounded; but among the former was the gallant and 
much-lamented Major Ringgold of the artillery. 

6. On the following day General Taylor resumed his march in the 
direction of Fort Brown. When within three miles of that place, he 
again came upon the Mexicans, who had rallied in full force to dispute 
his advance. They had selected for their second battle-field a place 
called Resaca de la Palma. Here an old river-bed, dry and overgrown 
with cactus, crossed the road leading to the fort. The enemy’s artillery 
was well posted and better served than on the previous day. The Ameri¬ 
can lines were severely galled until the brave Captain May with his regi¬ 
ment of dragoons charged through a storm of grape-shot, rode over the 
Mexican batteries, sabred the gunners, and captured La Vega, the com¬ 
manding general. The Mexicans, abandoning their guns and flinging 
away their accoutrements, fled in a general rout. Before nightfall they 
had put the Rio Grande between themselves and the invincible Americans. 
On reaching Fort Brown, General Taylor found that during his absence 
the place had been constantly bombarded by the guns of Matamoras. 
But a brave defence had been made, which cost, with other losses and 
suffering, the life of Major Brown, the commandant. Such was the be¬ 
ginning of a war in which Mexico experienced a long list of humiliating 
defeats. 

7. When the news of the battles on the Rio Grande was borne through 
the Union, the war spirit was everywhere aroused. Party dissensions 
were hushed into silence. The President, in a message to Congress, noti¬ 
fied that body that the lawless soldiery of Mexico had shed the blood of 
American citizens on American soil. On th 13th of May, 1846, Con¬ 
gress promptly responded with a declaration that war already existed by 
the act of the Mexican government. The President was authorized to 
accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers, and ten million dollars 
were placed at his disposal. War meetings were held in all parts of the 
country, and within a few weeks nearly three hundred thousand men 
rushed forward to enter the ranks. A grand invasion of Mexico was 
planned by General Scott. The American forces were organized in three 
divisions: the Army of the West, under General Kearney, to cross 
the Rocky Mountains and conquer the northern Mexican provinces; 


POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 


391 


the Army of the Centre, under General Scott as commander-in- 
chief, to march from the gulf coast into the heart of* the enemy’s country ; 
the Army of Occupation, commanded by General Taylor, to subdue 
and hold the districts on the Rio Grande. 

8. The work of mustering the American troops was entrusted to Gen¬ 
eral Wool. By the middle of summer he succeeded in despatching to 
General Taylor a force of nine thousand men. He then established his 
camp at San Antonio, Texas, and from that point prepared the gathering 
recruits for the field. Meanwhile, Taylor had resumed active operations 
on the Rio Grande. Ten days after the battle of Resaca de la Palma he 
crossed from Fort Brown and captured Matamoras. Soon afterward he 
began his march up the right bank of the river and into the interior. 
The Mexicans, grown wary of their antagonist, fell back and took post at 
the fortified town of Monterey. To capture that place was the next object 
of the campaign; but the American army was feeble in numbers, and 
General Taylor was obliged to tarry near the Rio Grande until the latter 
part of August. By that time reinforcements had arrived, increasing his 
numbers to six thousand six hundred. With this force the march against 
Monterey was begun; and on the 19th of September the town, defended 
by fully ten thousand troops, under command of Ampudia, was reached 
and invested. 

9. The siege was pressed with great vigor. On the 21st of the month 
several assaults were made, in which the Americans, led by General 
Worth, carried the fortified heights in the rear of the town. In that part 
of the defences only the bishop’s palace—a strong building of stone—re¬ 
mained ; and this was taken by storm on the following day. On the 
morning of the 23d the city was successfully assaulted in front by Gen¬ 
erals Quitman and Butler. In the face of a tremendous cannonade and 
an incessant tempest of musket-balls discharged from the house-tops and 
alleys, the American storming-parties charged resistlessly into the town. 
They reached the Grand Plaza, or public square. They hoisted the vic¬ 
torious flag of the Union. They turned upon the buildings where the 
Mexicans were concealed; broke open the doors; charged up dark stair¬ 
ways to the flat roofs of the houses; and drove the terrified enemy to an 
ignominious surrender. The honors of war were granted to Ampudia, 
who evacuated the city and retired toward the capital. The storming of 
Monterey was a signal victory, gained against great superiority of num¬ 
bers and advantage of position. 

10. After the capitulation General Taylor received notice that overtures 
of peace were about to be made by the Mexican government. He there¬ 
fore agreed to an armistice of eight weeks, during which time neither party 


392 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


should renew hostilities. In reality the Mexicans had no thought of 
peace. They employed the whole interval in warlike preparations. The 
famous general Santa Anna was called home from his exile at Havana 
to take the presidency of the country. In the course of the autumn a 
Mexican army of twenty thousand men was raised and sent into the field. 
In the mean time, the armistice had expired; and General Taylor, acting 
under orders of the War Department, again moved forward. On the 15th 
of November, the town of Saltillo, seventy miles south-west from Mon¬ 
terey, was captured by the American advance under General Worth. In 
the following month, Victoria, a city in the province of Tamaulipas, was 
taken by the command of General Patterson. To that place General 
Butler advanced from Monterey on the march against Tampico, on the 
river Panuco. At Victoria, however, he learned that Tampico had 
already capitulated to Captain Conner, commander of an American 
flotilla. Meanwhile, General Wool, advancing with strong reinforce¬ 
ments from San Antonio, entered Mexico, and took a position within sup¬ 
porting distance of Monterey. It was at this juncture that General Scott 
arrived and assumed the command of the American forces. 

11. The Army of the West had not been idle. In June of 1846 
General Kearney set out from Fort Leavenworth, on the Missouri, for 
the conquest of New Mexico and California. After a long and wearisome 
march he reached Santa Fe, and on the 18th of August captured and gar¬ 
risoned the city. The whole of New Mexico submitted without further 
resistance. With a body of four hundred dragoons Kearney then con¬ 
tinued his march toward the Pacific coast. At the distance of three hun¬ 
dred miles from Santa Fe he was met by the famous Kit Carson, who 
brought intelligence from the far West that California had already been 
subdued. Kearney accordingly sent back three-fourths of his forces, and 
with a party of only a hundred men made his way to the Pacific. On 
that far-otf coast stirring events had happened. 

12. For four years Colonel John C. Fremont had been exploring the 
country west of the Rocky Mountains. He had hoisted the American 
flag on the highest peak of the great range, and then directed his route by 
Salt Lake to Oregon. Turning southward into California, he received 
despatches informing him of the impending war with Mexico. Deter¬ 
mined to strike a blow for his country, he urged the people of California, 
many of whom were Americans, to declare their independence. The 
hardy frontiersmen of the Sacramento valley flocked to his standard; and 
a campaign was at once begun to overthrow the Mexican authority. In 
several petty engagements the Americans were victorious over greatly 
superior numbers. Meanwhile, Commodore Sloat, commanding an 


POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 


393 


American fleet, had captured the town of Monterey, on the coast, eighty 
miles south of San Francisco. A few days afterward Commodore Stock- 
ton took command of the Pacific squadron and made himself master of 
San Diego. Hearing of these events, Fremont raised the flag of the 
United States instead of the flag of California, and joined the naval com¬ 
manders in a successful movement against Los Angelos, which was taken 
without opposition. Before the end of summer the whole of the vast 
province was subdued. In November General Kearney arrived with his 
company and joined Fremont and Stockton. About a month later the 
Mexicans rose in rebellion, but were defeated on the 8th of January, 
1847, in the decisive battle of San Gabriel, by which the authority of the 
United States was completely established. A country large enough for 
an empire had been conquered by a handful of resolute men. 

13. In the mean time, Colonel Doniphan, who had been left by Kear¬ 
ney in command of New Mexico, had made one of the most brilliant 
movements of the war. With a body of seven hundred fearless men he 
began a march through the enemy’s country from Santa Fe to Saltillo, a 
distance of more than eight hundred miles. Reaching the Rio Grande on 
Christmas day, he fought and gained the battle of Bracito; then, crossing 
the river, captured El Paso, and in two months pressed his way to within 
twenty miles of Chihuahua. On the banks of Sacramento Creek he met 
the Mexicans in overwhelming numbers, and on the 28th of February 
completely routed them. He then marched unopposed into Chihuahua— 
a city of more than forty thousand inhabitants—and finally reached the 
division of General Wool in safety. 

14. As soon as General Scott arrived in Mexico he ordered a large part 
of the Army of Occupation to join him on the gulf for the conquest of the 
capital. By the withdrawal of these troops from the divisions of Taylor 
and Wool these officers were left in a very exposed and critical condition ; 
for Santa Anna was rapidly advancing against them with an army of 
twenty thousand men. To resist this tremendous array General Taylor 
was able to concentrate at Saltillo a force numbering not more than six 
thousand; and after putting sufficient garrisons in that town and Mon¬ 
terey, his effective forces amounted to but four thousand eight hundred. 
With this small but resolute army he marched boldly out to meet the 
Mexican host. A favorable battle-ground was chosen at Buena Vista, 
four miles south of Saltillo. Here Taylor posted his troops and awaited 
the enemy. 

15. On the 22d of February the Mexicans, twenty thousand strong, 
came pouring through the gorges and over the hills from the direction of 
San Luis Potosi. Santa Anna demanded a surrender, and was met with 


394 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


defiance. On the morning of the 23d the battle began with an effort to out¬ 
flank the American position on the right; but the attempt was thwarted by 
the troops of Illinois. A heavy column was then thrown against the centre, 
only to be shattered and driven back by Captain Washington’s artillery. 
The Mexicans next fell in great force upon the American left flank, where 
the second regiment of Indianians, acting under a mistaken order, gave 
way, putting the army in great peril. But the troops of Mississippi and 
Kentucky were rallied to the breach; the men of Illinois and Indiana 
came bravely to the support; and again the enemy was hurled back. 
In the crisis of the battle the Mexicans made a furious and final charge 
upon Captain Bragg’s battery; but the gunners stood at their posts un¬ 
daunted, and the columns of lancers were scattered with terrible volleys 
of grape-shot. A charge of American cavalry, though made at the sacri¬ 
fice of many lives, added to the discomfiture of the foe. Against tremen¬ 
dous odds the field was fairly won. On the night after the battle the 
Mexicans, having lost nearly two thousand men, made a precipitate re¬ 
treat. The American loss was also severe, amounting, in killed, wounded 
and missing, to seven hundred and forty-six. This was the last of General 
Taylor’s battles. He soon afterward returned to the United States, where 
he was received with great enthusiasm. 

16. On the 9th of March, 1847, General Scott began the last campaign 
of the war. With a force of twelve thousand men he landed to the south 

of Vera Cruz, and in three days the 
investment of the city was completed. 
Trenches were opened at the distance 
of eight hundred yards; and on the 
morning of the 22d the cannonade 
was begun. On the water side Vera 
Cruz was defended by the celebrated 
castle of San Juan d’Ulloa, erected 
by Spain in the early part of the sev¬ 
enteenth century, at the cost of four 
million dollars. For four days an 
incessant storm of shot and shell from the fleet of Commodore Conner and 
the land-batteries of Scott was poured upon the doomed castle and town. 
Life and property were swept into a common ruin. An assault was 
already planned, when the humbled authorities of the city proposed ca¬ 
pitulation. On the night of the 27th terms of surrender were signed, and 
two days afterward the American flag floated over Vera Cruz. 

17. The route from the gulf to the capital was now open. On the 8th 
of April General Twiggs, in command of the American advance, set out 







POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 


395 


on the road to Jalapa. The main division, led by General Scott in per¬ 
son, followed immediately. For several days there was no serious oppo¬ 
sition; but on the 12th of the month Twiggs came upon Santa Anna, 
who, with an army of fifteen thousand men, had taken possession of the 
heights and rocky pass of Cerro Gordo. The position, though seemingly 
impregnable, must be carried, or further advance was impossible. On the 
morning of the 18th the American army was arranged for an assault which, 
according to all the rules of war, promised only disaster and ruin. But to 
the troops of the United States nothing now seemed too arduous, no deed too 
full of peril. Before noonday every position of the Mexicans had been suc¬ 
cessfully stormed and themselves driven into a precipitate rout. Nearly 
three thousand prisoners were taken, together with forty-three pieces of 
bronze artillery, five thousand muskets and accoutrements enough to 
supply an army. The American loss amounted to four hundred and 
thirty-one, that of the enemy to fully a thousand. Santa Anna escaped 
with his life, but left behind his private papers and wooden leg. 

18. On the next day the victorious army entered Jalapa. On the 22d 
the strong castle of Perote, crowning a peak of the Cordilleras, was taken 
without resistance. Here another park of artillery and a vast amount of 
warlike stores fell into the hands of the Americans. Turning southward, 
General Scott next led his army against the ancient and sacred city of 
Puebla. Though inhabited by eighty thousand people, no defence was 
made or attempted. The handful of invaders marched unopposed through 
the gates, and on the 15th of May took up their quarters in the city. 
The American army was now reduced to five thousand men, and General 
Scott was obliged to pause until reinforcements could be brought forward 
from Vera Cruz. Negotiations were again opened in the hope of peace; 
but the Mexican authorities, stubborn and foolhardy as at the beginning, 
preferred to fight it out. 

19. By the 7th of August General Scott had received reinforcements, 
swelling his numbers to nearly eleven thousand. Leaving a small garri¬ 
son in Puebla, he again began his march upon the capital. The route 
now lay over the summit of the Cordilleras. At the passes of the moun¬ 
tains resistance had been expected; but the advance was unopposed, and 
the army swept through to look down on the Valley of Mexico. 
Never before had the American soldiery beheld such a scene. Clear to 
the horizon stretched a most living landscape of green fields, villages and 
lakes—a picture too beautiful to be torn with the dread enginery of war. 

20. The army pressed on to Avotla, only fifteen miles from the capital. 
Thus far General Scott had followed the great national road from Vera 
Cruz to Mexico; but now, owing to the many fortifications and danger- 


396 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


ous passes in front, it was deemed advisable to change the route. From 
Ayotla, therefore, the army wheeled to the south, around Lake Chaleo, 
and thence westward to San Augustine. From this place it was but ten 
miles to the capital. The city could be approached only by causeways 
leading across marshes and the beds of bygone lakes. At the ends of 
these causeways were massive gates strongly defended. To the left of 
the line of march were the almost inaccessible positions of Contreras, San 
Antonio and Molino del Rev. Directly in front, beyond the marshes and 
closer to the city, were the powerful defences of Churubusco and Chapul- 
tepec, the latter a castle of great strength. These various positions were 
held by Santa Anna with a force of more than thirty thousand Mexicans. 
That General Scott, with an army not one-third as great in numbers, 
could take the city seemed an impossibility. But he was resolved to 
do it. 

21. On the 19th of August the divisions of Generals Pillow and Twiggs 
were ordered to storm the Mexican position at Contreras. About night¬ 
fall the line of communications between that place and Santa Anna’s re¬ 
serves was cut, and in the darkness of the following midnight an assault¬ 
ing column, led by General Persifer F. Smith, moved against the enemy’s 
camp. The attack was made at sunrise, and in seventeen minutes six 
thousand Mexicans, commanded by General Valencia, were driven in 
utter rout from their fortifications. The American storm ing-party num¬ 
bered less than four thousand. This was the first victory of that mem¬ 
orable 20th of August. A few hours afterward General Worth advanced 
against San Antonio, compelled an evacuation and routed the flying gar¬ 
rison. This was the second victory. Almost at the same time General 
Pillow led a column against one of the heights of Churubusco where the 
enemy had concentrated in great force. After a terrible assault the posi¬ 
tion was carried and the Mexicans scattered like chaff. This was the 
third triumph. The division of General Twiggs added a fourth victory 
by storming and holding another height of Churubusco, while the fifth 
and last was achieved by Generals Shields and Pierce, who defeated 
Santa Anna, coming to reinforce his garrisons. The whole Mexican army 
was hurled back upon the remaining fortification of Chapultepec. 

22. On the morning after the battles the Mexican authorities sent out 
a proposition to negotiate. It was only a ruse to gain time, for the terms 
proposed by them were such as conquerors would have dictated to the 
vanquished. General Scott, who did not consider his army vanquished, 
rejected the proposals with scorn, rested his men until the 7th of Septem¬ 
ber, and then renewed hostilities. On the next morning General Worth 
was ordered to take Molino del Rey and Casa de Mata, the western de- 


POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 


397 


fences of Chapultepec. These positions were held by fourteen thousand 
Mexicans; but the Americans, after losing a fourth of their number in the 
desperate onset, were again victorious. The guns were next brought to 
bear on Chapultepec itself, and on the 13th of the month that frowning 
citadel was carried by storm. Through the San Cosme and Belen gates 
the conquering army swept resistlessly, and at nightfall the soldiers of the 
Union were in the suburbs of Mexico. 

23. In the darkness of that night Santa Anna and the officers of the 
government fled from 
the city; but not un¬ 
til they had turned 
loose two thousand 
convicts to fire upon 
the American army. 

On the following 
morning, before day- 
dawn, forth came a 
deputation from the 
city to beg for mercy. 

This time the messen¬ 
gers were in earnest; 
but General Scott, 
weary of trifling, 
turned them dway 
with contempt. “ For¬ 
ward !” was the order 
that rang along the 
American lines at sun¬ 
rise. The war-worn 
regiments swept into 
the beautiful streets of general winfield scott. 

the famous city, and 

at seven o’clock the flag of the United States floated over the halls of the 
Montezumas. So ended one of the most brilliant campaigns known in 
modern history. 

24. On leaving his conquered capital Santa Anna, with his usual 
treachery, turned about to attack the American hospitals at Puebla. 
Here about eighteen hundred sick men had been left in charge of Colonel 
Childs. For several days a gallant resistance was made by the feeble 
garrison, until General Lane, on his march to the capital, fell upon the 
besiegers and scattered them. It was the closing stroke of the war—a 



398 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


contest in which the Americans, few in number and in a far-distant, 
densely-peopled country, had gained every victory. 

25. The military power of Mexico was now completely broken. Santa 
Anna was a fugitive. It only remained to determine the conditions of 
peace. In the winter of 1847-48 American ambassadors met the Mexican 
Congress, in session at Guadalupe Hidalgo, and on the 2d of February a 
treaty was concluded between the two nations. The compact was ratified 
by both governments, and on the 4th of the following July President Polk 
made a proclamation of peace. * By the terms of settlement the boundary¬ 
line between Mexico and the United States was fixed as follows: The 
Rio Grande from its mouth to the southern limit of New Mexico; thence 
westward along the southern and northward along the western boundary 
of that territory to the river Gila; thence down that river to the Colo¬ 
rado ; thence westward to the Pacific. The whole of New Mexico and 
Upper California was relinquished to the United States. Mexico guar¬ 
anteed the free navigation of the Gulf of California, and the river Colo¬ 
rado from its mouth to the confluence of the Gila. In consideration of 
these territorial acquisitions and privileges the United States agreed to 
surrender all places held by military occupation in Mexico, to pay into 
the treasury of that country fifteen million dollars, and to assume all debts 
due from the Mexican government to American citizens, said debts not to 
exceed three million five hundred thousand dollars. Thus at last was the 
territory of the United States spread out in one broad belt from ocean to 
ocean. 

26. A few days after the signing of the treaty of peace an event oc¬ 
curred in California which spread excitement through the civilized world. 
A laborer, employed by Captain Sutter to cut a mill-race on the American 
fork of Sacramento River, discovered some pieces of gold in the sand 
where he was digging. With further search other particles were found. 
The news spread as if borne on the wind. From all quarters adventurers 
came flocking. Other explorations led to further revelations of the pre¬ 
cious metal. For a while there seemed no end to the discoveries. Strag¬ 
gling gold-hunters sometimes picked up in a few hours the value of five 
hundred dollars. The intelligence went flying through the States to the 
Atlantic, and then to the ends of the world. Men thousands of miles 
away were crazed with excitement. Workshops were shut up, business 
houses abandoned, fertile farms left tenantless, offices deserted. Though 
the overland routes to California were scarcely yet discovered, thousands 
of eager adventurers started on the long, long journey. Before the end 
of 1850 San Francisco had grown from a miserable village of huts to a 
city of fifteen thousand inhabitants. By the close of 1852 the territory 


POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 


399 


had a population of more than a quarter of a million. The importance 
of the gold mines of California, whose richness is not yet exhausted, can 
hardly be overestimated. 

27. In the first summer of President Polk’s administration the country 
was called to mourn the death of General Jackson. The veteran warrior 
and statesman lived to the age of seventy-eight, and died at his home, 
called the Hermitage, in Tennessee. On the 23d of February, 1848, ex- 
President John Quincy Adams died at the city of Washington. At the 
time of his decease he was a member of the House of Representatives. 
He was struck with paralysis in the very seat from which he had so many 
times electrified the nation with his eloquence. 

28. In 1848 Wisconsin, the last of the five great States formed from 
the North-western Territory, was admitted into the Union. The new 
commonwealth came with a population of two hundred and fifty thou¬ 
sand and an area of nearly fifty-four thousand square miles. By estab¬ 
lishing the St. Croix instead of the Mississippi as the western boundary 
of the State, Wisconsin lost a considerable district rightfully belonging to 
her territory. 

29. Another presidential election was at hand. Three well-known can¬ 
didates were presented for the suffrages of the people. General Lewis Cass 
of Michigan was nominated by the Democrats, and General Zachary Taylor 
by the Whigs. As the candidate of the new Free-Soil party, ex-President 
Martin Van Buren was put forward. The rise of this new party was 
traceable to a question concerning the territory acquired by the Mexican 
W ar. In 1846 David Wilmot of Pennsylvania brought before Congress 
a bill to prohibit slavery in all the territory which might be secured by 
treaty with Mexico. The bill was defeated; but the advocates of the 
measure, which was called the Wilmot Proviso, formed themselves into a 
party, and in June of 1848 nominated Mr. Van Buren for the presidency. 
The real contest, however, lay between Generals Cass and Taylor. The 
position of the two leading parties on the question of slavery in the new 
territories was as yet not clearly defined, and the election was left to turn 
on the personal popularity of the candidates. The memory of his recent 
victories in Mexico made General Taylor the favorite with the people, 
and he was elected by a large majority. As Vice-President, Millard Fill¬ 
more of New York was chosen. So closed the agitated but not inglori¬ 
ous administration of President Polk. 


26 



400 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE, 1849-1853. 



T HE new President was a Virginian by birth, a Kentuckian by breed¬ 
ing, a soldier by profession. In 1808 he left the farm to accept a 
commission in the army. During the war of 1812 he distinguished him¬ 
self in the North-west, especially in defending Fort Harrison against the 

Red men. In the 
Seminole War he bore 
a conspicuous part, but 
earned his greatest re¬ 
nown in Mexico. His 
reputation, though 
strictly military, was 
enviable, and his cha¬ 
racter above reproach. 
His administration be¬ 
gan with a violent agi¬ 
tation on the question 
of slavery in the terri¬ 
tories; California, the 
El Dorado of the West, 
was the origin of the 
dispute. 

2. In his first mes¬ 
sage President Taylor 
expressed his sympa¬ 
thy with the Califor¬ 
nians, and advised 
president taylor. them to form a State 

government prepara¬ 
tory to admission into the Union. The advice was promptly accepted. 
A convention of delegates was held at Monterey in September of 1849. 
A constitution prohibiting slavery was framed, submitted to the people, 
and adopted with but little opposition. Peter H. Burnet was elected 
governor of the Territory; members of a general assembly were chosen; 
and on the 20th of December, 1849, the new government was organized 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE. 


401 


at San Jose. At the same time a petition in the usual form was for¬ 
warded to Congress asking for the admission of California as a State. 

3. The presentation of the petition was the signal for a bitter contro¬ 
versy. As in the case of the admission of Missouri, the members of Con¬ 
gress, and to a great extent the people, were sectionally divided. But 
now the position of the parties was reversed; the proposition to admit the 
new State was favored by the representatives of the North and opposed 
by those of the South. The ground of the opposition was that with the 
extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific the right to in¬ 
troduce slavery into California was guaranteed by the general government, 
and that therefore the proposed constitution of the State ought to be re¬ 
jected. The reply of the North was that the argument could apply only 
to a part of the new State, that the Missouri Compromise had respect only 
to the Louisiana purchase, and that the people of California had framed 
their constitution in their own way. Such was the issue; and the debates 
grew more and more violent, until the stability of the Union was seriously 
endangered. 

4. Other exciting questions added fuel to the controversy. Texas 
claimed New Mexico as a part of her territory, and the claim was resisted 
by the people of Santa Fe, who desired a separate government. The peo¬ 
ple of the South complained bitterly that fugitive slaves, escaping from 
their masters, were aided and encouraged in the North. The opponents 
of slavery demanded the abolition of the slave-trade in the District of 
Columbia. Along the whole line of controversy there was a spirit of 
suspicion, recrimination and anger. 

5. The illustrious Henry Clay appeared as a peacemaker. In the 
spring of 1850 he was appointed chairman of a committee of thirteen, to 
whom all the questions under discussion were referred. On the 9th of 
May he brought forward, as a compromise covering all the points in dis¬ 
pute, the Omnibus Bill, of which the provisions were as follows: First , 
the admission of California as a free State; second , the formation of new 
States, not exceeding four in number, out of the territory of Texas, said 
States to permit or exclude slavery as the people should determine; third , 
the organization of territorial governments for New Mexico and Utah, 
without conditions on the question of slavery; foiwth , the establishment 
of the present boundary between Texas and New Mexico, and the pay¬ 
ment to the former for surrendering the latter the sum of ten million dol¬ 
lars from the national treasury; fifth, the enactment of a more rigorous 
law for the recovery of fugitive slaves; sixth, the abolition of the slave- 
trade in the District of Columbia. 

6. When the Omnibus Bill was laid before Congress, the debates began 


402 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



anew, and seemed likely to be interminable. While the discussion was at 
its height and the issue still undecided, President Taylor fell sick, and 
died on the 9th of July, 1850. In accordance with the provisions of the 
constitution, Mr. Fillmore at once took the oath of office and entered upon 
the duties of the presidency. A new cabinet was formed, with Daniel 
Webster at the head as secretary of state. Notwithstanding the death of 
the chief magistrate, the government moved on without disturbance. 

7. The compromise proposed by Mr. Clay and sustained by his elo¬ 
quence was at length 
approved by Congress. 
On the 18th of Sep¬ 
tember the last clause 
was adopted, and the 
whole received the im¬ 
mediate sanction of the 
President. T h e ex¬ 
citement in the coun¬ 
try rapidly abated, and 
the distracting contro¬ 
versy seemed at an end. 
Such was the last, and 
perhaps the greatest, 
of those pacific mea¬ 
sures originated and 
carried through Con¬ 
gress by the genius 
of Henry Clay. He 
shortly afterward bade 
adieu to the Senate, 
and sought at his be- 
henky clay. loved Ashland a brief 

rest from the arduous 
cares of public life. 

8. 1 he year 1850 was marked by a lawless attempt on the part of some 
American adventurers to gain possession of Cuba. It was thought that 
the people of that island were anxious to throw off the Spanish yoke and 
to annex themselves to the United States. In order to encourage such a 
movement, General Lopez organized an expedition in the South, and on 
the 19th of May, 1850, effected a landing at Cardenas, a port of Cuba 
But there was no uprising in his favor; neither Cubans nor Spanish sol¬ 
diers joined his standard, and he was obliged to seek safety by returning 


ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE. 


403 


to Florida. Renewing the attempt in the following year, he and his band 
of four hundred and eighty men were attacked, defeated and captured by 
an overwhelming force of Spaniards. Lopez and the ringleaders were 
taken to Havana, tried, condemned and executed. 

9. In 1852 a serious trouble arose with England. By the terms of 
former treaties the coast-fisheries of Newfoundland belonged exclusively 
to Great Britain. But outside of a line drawn three miles from the shore 
American fishermen enjoyed equal rights and privileges. Now the dis¬ 
pute arose as to whether the line should be drawn from one headland to 
another so as to give all the bays and inlets to England, or whether it 
should be made to conform to the irregularities of the coast. Under the 
latter construction American fishing-vessels would have equal claims in 
the bays and harbors; but this privilege was denied by Great Britain, 
and the quarrel rose to such a height that both nations sent men-of-war 
to the contested waters. But reason triumphed over passion, and in 1854 
the difficulty was happily settled by negotiation; the right to take fish in 
any of the bays of the British possessions was conceded to American fish¬ 
ermen. 

10. During the summer of 1852 the celebrated Hungarian patriot 
Louis Kossuth made the tour of the United States. -Austria and Russia 
had united against his native land and overthrown her liberties. He 
came to plead the cause of Hungary before the American people, and to 
obtain such aid as might be privately furnished to his oppressed country¬ 
men. Everywhere he was received with expressions of sympathy and 
good-will. His mission was successful, though the long-established pol¬ 
icy of the United States forbade the government to interfere on behalf of 
the Hungarian patriots. 

11. About this time the attention of the American people was directed 
in a special manner to explorations in the Arctic Ocean. In 1845 Sir 
John Franklin, one of the bravest of English seamen, went on a voyage 
of discovery to the extreme North. He believed in the possibility of 
passing through an open polar sea into the Pacific. Years went by, and 
no tidings came from the daring sailor. It was only known that he had 
passed the country of Esquimaux. Other expeditions were despatched 
in search, but returned without success. Henry Grinnell, a wealthy mer¬ 
chant of New York, fitted out several vessels at his own expense, put 
them under command of Lieutenant De Haven, and sent them to the 
North; but in vain. The government came to Mr. GrinnelFs aid. In 
1853 a new Arctic squadron was equipped, the command of which was 
given to Dr. Elisha Kent Kane; but the expedition, though rich in sci¬ 
entific results, returned without the discovery of Franklin. 


404 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



12. During the administrations of Taylor and Fillmore the country was 
called to mourn the loss of many distinguished men. On the 31st of 
March, 1850, Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina passed away. 

His death was much 
lamented, especially in 
his own State, to whose 
interests he had de¬ 
voted the energies of 
his life. His earnest¬ 
ness and zeal and pow¬ 
ers of debate have 
placed him in the front 
rank of American or¬ 
ators. At the age of 
sixty-eight he fell from 
his place like a scarred 
oak of the forest never 
to rise again. Then 
followed the death of 
the President; and 
then, on the 28th of 
June, 1852, Henry 
Clay, having fought 
his last battle, sank to 
rest. On the 24th of 
john c. calhoun. the following October 

the illustrious Daniel 

Webster died at his home at Marshfield, Massachusetts. The place of 
secretary of state, made vacant' by his death, was conferred on Edward 
Everett. 

13. As Fillmore’s administration drew to a close the political parties 
again marshaled their forces. Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire ap¬ 
peared as the candidate of the Democratic party, and General Winfield 
Scott as the choice of the Whigs. The question at issue before the coun¬ 
try was the Compromise Act of 1850. But the parties, instead of being 
divided, were for once agreed as to the wisdom of that measure. Both the 
Whig and Democratic platforms stoutly reaffirmed the justice of the Omni¬ 
bus Bill, by which the dissensions of the country had been quieted. A third 
party arose, however, whose members, both Whigs and Democrats, 
doubted the wisdom of the compromise of 1850, and declared that all the 
Territories of the United States ought to be free. John P. Hale of New 


PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 


405 


Hampshire was put forward as the candidate of this Free Soil party. Mr. 
Pierce was elected by a large majority, and William R. King of Alabama 
was chosen Vice-President. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

PIERCE’S ADMINISTRATION, 1853-1857 . 

T HE new chief magistrate was a native of New Hampshire, a graduate 
of Bowdoin College, a lawyer, a politician, a general in the Mexican 
War, a statesman of considerable abilities. Mr. King, the Vice-Presi¬ 
dent, had for a long time represented Alabama in the Senate of the United 
States. On account of failing health he was sojourning in the island of 
Cuba at the time of the inauguration, and there he received the oath of 
office. Growing still more feeble, he returned to his own State, where 
he died on the 18th of April, 1853. As secretary of state under the new 
administration William L. Marcy of New York was chosen. 

2. In the summer of 1853 the first corps of engineers w T as sent out by 
the government to explore the route for A Pacific Railroad. The 
enterprise was at first regarded as visionary, then believed in as possible, 
and finally undertaken and accomplished. In the same year that marked 
the beginning of the project the disputed boundary between New Mexico 
and Chihuahua was satisfactorily settled. The maps on which the former 
treaties with Mexico had been based were found to be erroneous. Santa 
Anna, who had again become president of the Mexican republic, attempted 
to take advantage of the error, and sent an army to occupy the territory 
between the true and the false boundary. This action was resisted by the 
authorities of New Mexico and the United States, and a second Mexican 
war seemed imminent. The difficulty was adjusted, however, by the pur¬ 
chase of the doubtful claim of Mexico. This transaction, known as the 
Gadsden Purchase, led to the erection of the new Territory of Arizona. 

3. The first year of Pierce’s administration was signalized by the open¬ 
ing of intercourse between the United States and the great empire of 
Japan. Hitherto the Japanese ports had been closed against the vessels 
of Christian nations. In order to remove this foolish and injurious re¬ 
striction Commodore Perry, a son of Oliver H. Perry of the war of 1812, 
sailed with his squadron into the Bay of Yeddo. When warned to depart, 
he explained to the Japanese officers the sincere desire of the United States 



406 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


to enter into a commercial treaty with the emperor. After much delay 
and hesitancy consent was obtained to hold an interview with that august 
personage. Accordingly, on the 14th of July, the commodore with his 
officers obtained an audience with the dusky monarch of the East, and 
presented a letter from the President of the United States. Still the gov¬ 
ernment of Japan was wary of accepting the proposition, and it was not 
until the spring of 1854 that a treaty could be concluded. The privileges 
of commerce were thus conceded to American merchant vessels, and two 
ports of entry were designated for their use. 

4. On the very day of Commodore Perry’s introduction to the emperor 
of Japan the Crystal Palace was opened in the city of New York for the 
second World’s Fair. The palace itself was a marvel in architecture, 
being built exclusively of iron and glass. Thousands of specimens of the 
arts and manufactures of all civilized nations • were put on exhibition 
within the spacious building. The enterprise and inventive genius of 
the whole country were quickened into a new life by the beautiful and 
instructive display. International exhibitions are among the happiest 
fruits of an enlightened age. 

5. And now the great domain lying west of Minnesota, Iowa and Mis¬ 
souri was to be organized into territorial governments. Already into 
these vast regions the tide of immigration was pouring, and it became ne¬ 
cessary to provide for the future. In January of 1854 Senator Stephen 
A. Douglas of Illinois brought before the Senate of the United States a 
proposition to organize the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. In the 
bill reported for this purpose a clause was inserted providing that the 
people of the two Territories, in forming their constitutions, should decide 
for themselves whether the new States should be free or slaveholding. 
This was a virtual repeal of the Missouri Compromise, for both the new 
territories lay north of the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty min¬ 
utes. Thus by a single stroke the old settlement of the slavery question 
was to be undone. From January until May Mr. Douglas’s report, 
known as the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, was debated in Congress. All 
the bitter sectional antagonisms of the past were aroused in full force. 
The bill was violently opposed by a majority of the representatives from 
the East and North; but the minority, uniting with the congressmen of 
the South, enabled Douglas to carry his measure through Congress, and 
in May of 1854 the bill received the sanction of the President. 

6. Kansas itself now became a battle-field for the contending parties. 
Whether the new State should admit slavery now depended upon the vote 
of the people. Wherefore both factions made a rush for the territory in 
order to secure a majority. Kansas was soon filled with an agitated mass 










































































































1857 


61 


05 


09 


Frederick William 


60. Tie 


\Kpoieou III. 


IV. 


Victoria. 


58. Mutiny in the E 


JAMES BUCHAJfAJf, 

President. 

John F.Breckinrhlge, 

Vice-President. 


57. The Dred 
cision 


Scott De- 


aty of Peace between Chi 

61. William I. 


66 . War between 
and Austria. 


I 


67. Hanover 
na and England. 

68. For 


65. Fenian troubles in Ire 


Prussia 71. King W 

Emp 

70. Beginning of tin 
absorbed by Prussia. 


62. Death of I’rinc 


ast India army. 


57. Personal Liberty Bill. 


57. The Mormon rebellion 
in Utah. 


58. The first Atlan¬ 
tic Telegraph 
Cable. 


58. Minnesota ad¬ 
mitted into the 
Union. 


60. 


Wal 
teri 
def 

58. The great camp 
Mr. Lincoln an 
Douglas. 


ABRAHAM I,INFOE> 
Hannibal Hamlin, Vi 

61. Ten of the Southern S 
61. Tlie“Starof the West” 

J Fall of Fort Sumte 

61. The President calls for 
61. The Confederate Coug 
61. The President calls for 
^ Sip Bull Run. 


61. 


e Albert, the Consort. 

68. Pas 


President. 
ce-President. 
tates secede, 
fired upon. 

66. The Atlantic Ca 


Ball's Bluff, 

62. pj| Mill Spring. 
61. Mason & Slidell capt’d. 


61. Kansas admitted into 
Fort Donels 


62. 

62. 

62. 

62. 


Pittsburg La 
The Monitor 
the Merri 
Murfreesbor 
Front Royal 
Fair Oaks. 
Seven Days' 


62. 


Antietam. 


ker’sfilibus- 68. The Ema 
ng schemes gg jpn Siege 


75,000 volunteers, 
ress at Montgomery. 
500,000 men. 


65. Reconstruction of the 

ANDREW 7 JOHNSON 
65. Amnesty Proclam 

the Union. 
on. 66. Tennessee re-ad 
nding. 
and 

mac. 67. Purchase 

ough. 

and Port Republic. 

68. Imp 

battles. 68. The 

68. Ark 


eated. 
aigu of 
d Senator 


63. 


58. Troubles with P 


59. Washingt 
died, age 


60. Tli 
m 


U 


60. 


Di 

D 

at 


60. Po 


60. 


De 

oc 


60. So 


50. Oregon 
Union. 


araguay. 


Chick 
Looko 
Missio 

63. West Vir 

‘in Siege 
S| Morg 
^ Chan 
II Lee i 


63. 

63. 


on Irving 
d 76. 


63. pjf| Gettys 
63. The Presi 


e Japanese Com¬ 
ission in the 
nited States. 


64. 

64. 


The 


sruption of the 
emocratic Party 
Charleston. 


64. pi] 
64. H 


64. She 
64. I 


57. Distracted condition of 


pulation, 31,443,231. 64 
64 ! 

feat of the Dem- 
ratic party. 

64. 

uth Carol ina secedes, 
admitted into the 

64. 


El 


Ne 


62. French invasion 
affairs in Mexico. 

64. Ma 


ncipation Proclamat 

of Vicksburg, 
amauga. 
ut Mountain, 
nary Ridge. 

glnia admitted into the 
of Knoxville, 
an's raid, 
cellorsville 

nvades Pennsylvania. 
burg. 

dent orders a draft for 200, 
President calls for 300,000 
Dalton , Resaca. 

Dallas, Kenesaw. 

Siege of Atlanta. 

Franklin. 

Nashville. 67. Nebraska 
rman’s march. 

Fort M'Allister. 
Petersburg. 

Mobile Bay. 

Fort Fisher. 

The Alabama and the Ke 


mation of a North Gera 
land. 70. ||j^ Sedan. 

70. Downfall of Ni 


71 inn Sie 9 e 1 

iL ’ Treat; 
sage of the Reform Bill 
70. Disestablishmei 
71. Bill forbi 
72. Po 


UEYSSES S. GRANT, 
Schuyler Colfax, Vice 

69. The Pacific Railroad 
69. Edwin M. Stanton di 
ble laid. 

70. The Fifteenth 
70. Robert E. Lcei 
70. Admiral Farra; 
70. Virginia, Missi 


4 


70. Population, 
seceded States undertakeif 
President after April 15$ 

ation. 


mitted into the Union 


of Alaska. 


eacliment of President Id 
F ourteenth Amendment li 
ansas, Alabama, Georgia 1( 


ion. 




71. Burning 

69 Great monetary pani fa 
Union. 


The Wilderness. 

Cold Harbor. 

NCOEN re-elected. 

65. Bl 2 r iV( l Forks - 

Lee s surrender. 

65. President Lincoln assa 
vaila admitted into the 


of Mexico. 


ximilian elected Emper 
67. The Frenc 

67. Maximil 


72. r I'h. I 
72. Wil n 

72. Gl 


II 


000 troops, 
men. 


72. He e 
72. Ge: a 
72. Grif 
72. Bo 


admitted into the Uniorjl, 


!; 




arsarge. 


ssinated. 

Union. 


or. 


h army withdrawn, 
ian executed at Quei rr 














































rm 


*> 


77 


81 


1885 


lam proclaimed 

r. 

rauc«»>rru8sian War 

i Confederation. 

*. Tlie Irish University 
74. Overtlirow of th 

74. Disraeli, Prim 

oloou III. 


T 


Paris ; 
f Peace. 

>f the Irish Church, 
up: the sale of Comissio 
ation of the United Kin 


•esident. 
•esidcnt. 
mpleted. 
aged 55. 


l tnendment adopted, 
ed, aged Go. 
died, aged 69. 

>pi, and Texas re-admitt 


1,371. 
y the 
>5. 


President. 


ison. 

opted. 

orida, Louisiana, North 


Chicago. 

i New York City. 

lahama Claim** settl 
n H. Seward died, aged 
XT re-elected. 

[eury Wilson, Vice- 

e Greeley died, aged 61. 
il George G. Meade died, 
fire in Boston. 

[ary dispute between 

. Hoiloc War. 

. The Credit Mobilier in 
. Chief-Justice Chasedi 
. Great financial crisis. 

74. Charles Sumner 

76. The 
76. The 

76. Col 
76. Cen 


77. The Itusso-Turkisli 

77 1 Capture of Plevna 
Um Collapse of theOt 

78. Treaty of Sail 
78. Treaty of Her 

Bill defeated, 
e Gladstone Ministry, 
e Minister. 

79. The Zulu 
79. Death of 
79. Death of 
79. Accession 
79. Overthrow 
79. Gladstone 
80. Brit 
ns. 

gdom, 31,465,480. 


War breaks out. 
by the Russians, 
toman Empire. 

Stefan o. 
lin. 


War. 

the Prince Imperial. 

Pius IX. 
of Leo XIII. 
of the Disraeli Ministry. 
Premier of England, 
ish troubles in Afghanis! 
81. Assassination of the 
81. Accession of Alexand 


KTT1I ERFOlt R It. H 
William A. W heeler, 

77. The disputed Presiden 
77. New policy adopted 
77. The great Railroad Str 

ed into the Union. 


77. The Xez Peree W'a 

77. Great financial depi’es 
77. Oliver P. Morton died, 


AYES, President. 
Vice-President. 

.1 A M ES A. GARFIEIi R 
Chester A. Arthur, Vi 

cy is settled by a Joint Hi 
toward the Southern Stat 
ikes and Riots. 

81. President Garfield assas 


78. The act remonet 
78. The Halifax Fis 
lars against the 
78. William Cullen 
78. The Yellow Fev 
78. Bayard Taylor 
78. Establishment 
78. The Life-saving 
Carolina, and South Carol 


ed. 

71. 


79. Resumpti 
77-79. Tour of 
79. Zachariah 


80. The 
80. The 


an. 

Czar of Russia, 
er HI. 


President. 
ce-President. 
gh Commission, 
es 

sinated. 


r. 

sion in the country, 
aged 54. 

CHESTER A.ARTHUR 

19, 1881. 

izing silver passed by Con 
hery Commission make 
United States. 

Bryant died, aged 84. 
er scourges the Southern 
died, aged 54. 
of a Chinese Embassy in 
Service established by the 
ina re-admitted into the 


ro. 


President, died Novemb 

aged 57. 
the United States and Gre 


vestigation. 
ed, aged 65. 

died, aged 63. 

Sioux War. 

Custer Massacre, 
orado admitted into the 

tennial celebration at 


on of Specie Payments by 
General Giant around th 
Chandler died. 


Refunding Question in Co 
Tenth Census: Populatio 


er 22,1875. 


at Britain settled. 


81. Matt. H. Carpenter 


Union. 

Philadelphia. 


President after Scntember 
gress. 

an award of 5,500,000 dol- 


States. 


the United States. 
Government. 
Union. 


the Government, 
e world. 


ngress. 
n, 50,152,866. 


died. 




NATIONAL PERIOD-THIRD SECTION, 

A. D. 1857-1885. 









































PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 


407 


of people, thousands of whom had been sent thither to vote. An election 
held in November of 1854 resulted in the choice of a pro-slavery delegate 
to Congress, and in the general territorial election of the following year 
the same party was triumphant. The State Legislature thus chosen as¬ 
sembled at Lecompton, organized the government and framed a constitu¬ 
tion permitting slavery. The Free Soil party, declaring the general elec¬ 
tion to have been illegal on account of fraudulent voting, assembled 
in convention at Topeka, framed a constitution excluding slavery, and 
organized a rival government. Civil war broke out between the fac¬ 
tions. From the autumn of 1855 until the following summer the Ter¬ 
ritory was a scene of constant turmoil and violence. On the 3d of 
September the President appointed John W. Geary of Pennsylvania mil¬ 
itary governor of Kansas, with full powers to restore order and punish 
lawlessness. On his arrival the hostile parties were quieted and peace 
restored. But the agitation in the Territory had already extended to all 
parts of the Union, and became the issue on which the people divided in 
the presidential election of 1856. 

7. The parties made ready for the contest. James Buchanan of Penn¬ 
sylvania was nominated as the Democratic candidate. By planting him¬ 
self on a platform of principles in which the doctrines of the Kansas-Ne- 
braska Bill were distinctly reaffirmed, he was able to secure a heavy vote 
both North and South. For many Northern Democrats, though opposed 
to slavery, held firmly to the opinion that the people of every Territory 
ought to have the right to decide the question for themselves. As the 
candidate of the Free Soil or People’s party, John C. Fremont of Califor¬ 
nia was brought forward. The exclusion of slavery from all the Terri¬ 
tories of the United States by congressional action was the distinctive 
principle of the Free Soil platform. Meanwhile, an American or Know- 
Nothing party had arisen in the country, the leaders of which, anxious to 
ignore the slavery question and to restrict foreign influences in the nation, 
nominated Millard Fillmore for the presidency. But the slavery agita¬ 
tion could not be put aside; on that issue the people were really divided. 
A large majority decided in favor of Mr. Buchanan for the presidency, 
while the choice for the vice-presidency fell on John C. Breckinridge of 
Kentucky. 



408 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER XV. 

BUCHANAN’S ADMINISTRATION , 1857-1861. 

J AMES BUCHANAN was a native of Pennsylvania, born on the 13th 
of April, 1791, educated for the profession of law. In 1831 he was 
appointed minister to Russia, was afterward elected to the Senate of the 
United States, and from that position was called to the office of secretary 
of state under President Polk. In 1853 he received the appointment of 
minister to Great Britain, and resided at London until his nomination for 
the presidency. As secretary of state in the new cabinet General Lewis 
Cass of Michigan was chosen. 

2. In the first year of Buchanan’s administration there was a Mormon 
rebellion in Utah. The difficulty arose from an attempt to extend the judi¬ 
cial system of the United States over the territory. Thus far Brigham 
Young, the Mormon governor, had had his own way of administering jus¬ 
tice. The community of Mormons was organized on a plan very different 
from that existing in other Territories, and many usages had grown up in 
Utah which were repugnant to the laws of the country. When, therefore, 
in 1856, a Federal judge was sent to preside in the Territory, he was 
resisted and driven from the seat of justice. To quell this insurrection 
an army of two thousand five hundred men was sent to Utah in the fall 
of 1857. The Mormons prepared for resistance and cut off the supply- 
trains of the army. Meanwhile, however, Thomas L. Kane arrived with 
conciliatory letters from the President. Overtures for peace on the basis 
of a Federal pardon were accepted by the Mormons, and order was finally 
restored. In 1858 the army marched to Salt Lake, was'then quartered 
at Camp Floyd, and in May of 1860. was withdrawn from the Territory. 

3. Early in 1858 an American vessel, while innocently exploring the 
Paraguay River, in South America, was fired on by a jealous garrison. 
When reparation for the insult was demanded, none was given, and the 
government of the United States was obliged to send out a fleet to obtain 
satisfaction. A commissioner was sent with the squadron who was em¬ 
powered to offer liberal terms of settlement for the injury. The author¬ 
ities of Paraguay quailed before the American flag, and suitable apologies 
were made for the wrong which had been committed. 

4. The 5th of August, 1858, was a memorable day in the history of 
the world. On that day was completed the laying of the first tele¬ 
graphic cable across the Atlantic Ocean. The successful accomplish- 


BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION. 


409 


ment of this great work was due in a large measure to the energy and ge¬ 
nius of Cyrus W. Field, a wealthy merchant of New York. The cable, 
one thousand six hundred and forty miles in length, was stretched from 
Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, to Yalentia Bay, Ireland. Telegraphic com¬ 
munication was thus established between the Old World and the New, 
and the fraternal greetings of peaceful nations were for the first time 
transmitted through the depths of the sea. 

5. In 1858 Minnesota was added to the Union The area of the new 



State was a little more than eighty-one thousand square miles, and its 
population at the date of admission a hundred and fifty thousand souls. 
In the next year Ore¬ 
gon, the thirty-third 
State, was admitted, 
with a population of 
forty-eight thousand, 
and an area of eighty 
thousand square miles. 

On the 4th of the pre¬ 
ceding March General 
Sam Houston of Texas 
bade adieu to the Sen¬ 
ate of the United 
States and retired to 
private life. His ca¬ 
reer had been marked 
by the strangest vicis¬ 
situdes. He was a 
Virginian by birth, 
but his youth was 
hardened among the 
mountains of Tennes¬ 
see. He gained a mil- 
itary fame in the Sem- general sam Houston. 

inole War, then rose 

to political distinction, and was elected governor of his adopted State. 
Overshadowed with a domestic calamity, he suddenly resigned his office, 
left his home, and exiled himself among the Cherokees, by whom he was 
made a chief. Afterward he went to Texas, joined the patriots, and be¬ 
came a leading spirit in the struggle for independence. It was he who 
commanded in the decisive battle of San Jacinto; he who became first 
president of Texas, and also her first representative in the Senate of the 


410 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


United States. Through all the misfortunes, dangers and trials of his life 
his character stood like adamant. 

6. The slavery question continued to vex the nation. In 1857 the 
Supreme Court of the United States, after hearing the cause of Dred Scott, 
formerly a slave, rendered a decision that negroes are not, and cannot be¬ 
come, citizens. This decision was violently assailed by the opponents of 
slavery; and in several of the free States Personal Liberty Bills 
were passed, the object of which was to defeat the execution of the Fugi¬ 
tive Slave law. In the fall of 1859 the excitement was still further in¬ 
creased by the mad attempt of John Brown of Kansas to excite a general 
insurrection among the slaves. With a party of twenty-one men as dar¬ 
ing as himself, he made a sudden descent on the United States arsenal at 
Harper’s Ferry, captured the place, and held his ground for nearly two 
days. The national troops and the militia of Virginia were called out in 
order to suppress the revolt. Thirteen of Brown’s men were killed, two 
made their escape, and the rest were captured. The leader and his six 
companions were given over to the authorities of Virginia, tried, con¬ 
demned and hanged. In Kansas the old controversy still continued, but 
the Free Soil party gained ground so rapidly as to make it certain that 
slavery would be interdicted from the State. All these facts and events 
tended to widen the breach between the people of the North and the 
South. Such was the alarming condition of affairs when the time arrived 
for holding the nineteenth presidential election. 

7. The canvass was one of intense excitement. Four candidates were 
presented. The choice of the People’s party—now called Republican— 
was Abraham Lincoln of Illinois. The platform of principles adopted 
by this party again declared opposition to the extension of slavery to be 
the vital issue. In the month of April the Democratic convention as¬ 
sembled at Charleston. The delegates were divided on the question of 
slavery, and after much debating the party was disrupted. The Southern 
delegates, unable to obtain a distinct expression of their views in the plat¬ 
form of principles, and seeing that the Northern wing was determined to 
nominate Mr. Douglas—the great defender of popular sovereignty—with¬ 
drew from the convention. The rest adjourned to Baltimore, where, on 
the 18th of June, they chose Douglas as their standard-bearer. The dele¬ 
gates from the South adjourned to Richmond, and then to Baltimore, 
where, on the 28th of June, John C. Breckinridge was nominated. The 
American party (now known as Constitutional Unionists) chose John Bell 
of Tennessee as their candidate. The contest resulted in the election of Mr. 
Lincoln. He received almost the entire electoral vote of the North, while 
the support of the Southern States was, for the most part, given to Breck- 


BUCHANAN’S ADMINISTRATION. 


411 


inridge. Mr. Douglas received a large popular but small electoral vote, 
his supporters being scattered through all the States. 

8. The result of the election had been anticipated. The leaders of the 
South had openly declared that the choice of Lincoln would be regarded 
as a just cause for the dissolution of the Union. The Republicans of the 
populous North crowded to the polls, and their favorite was chosen. As 
to the government, it was under the control of the Douglas Democracy; 
but a majority of the cabinet and a large number of senators and repre¬ 
sentatives in Congress were supporters of Mr. Breckinridge and the advo¬ 
cates of disunion as a justifiable measure. It was now evident that with 
the incoming of the new administration all the departments of the govern¬ 
ment would pass under the control of the Republican party. The times 
were full of passion, animosity and rashness. It was seen that disunion 
was now possible, and that the possibility would shortly be removed. The 
attitude of the President favored the measure. He was not himself a 
disunionist. He denied the right of a State to secede; but at the same 
time he declared himself not armed with the constitutional power neces¬ 
sary to prevent secession by force. The interval, therefore, between the 
presidential election in November of 1860 and the inauguration of the 
following spring was seized by the leaders of the South as the opportune 
moment for dissolving the Union. 

9. The actual work of secession began in South Carolina. On the 
17th of December, 1860, a convention assembled at Charleston, and after 
three days of deliberation passed a resolution that the union hitherto 
existing between South Carolina and the other States, under the name of 
the United States of America, was dissolved. It w r as a step of fearful 
importance. The action was contagious. The sentiment of disunion 
spread with great rapidity. The cotton-growing States were almost 
unanimous in support of the measure. By the 1st of February, 1861, 
six other States—Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and 
Texas—had passed ordinances of secession and withdrawn from the 
Union. Nearly all of the senators and representatives of those States, 
following the action of their constituents, resigned their seats in Congress 
and gave themselves to the disunion cause. 

10. In the secession conventions there was but little opposition to the 
movement. In some instances a considerable minority vote was cast. A 
few r of the speakers boldly denounced disunion as bad in principle and 
ruinous in its results. The course of Alexander H. Stephens, afterward 
Vice-President of the Confederate States, was peculiar. In the con¬ 
vention of Georgia he undertook the task of preventing the secession of 
his State. He delivered a long and powerful oration in which he de- 


412 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



fended the theory of secession, advocated the doctrine of State sove¬ 
reignty, declared his intention of abiding by the decision of the conven¬ 
tion, but at the same 
time spoke against se¬ 
cession, on the ground 
that the measure was 
impolitic , unwise , dis¬ 
astrous. Not a few 
prominent men at the 
South held similar 
views; but the oppo¬ 
site opinion prevailed, 
and secession was ac¬ 
complished. 

11. On the 4th of 
February, 1861, dele¬ 
gates from six of the 
seceded States assem¬ 
bled at Montgomery, 
Alabama, and formed 
a n e w government, 
under the name of 
The Confederate 
States of America. 

ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. On the 8tll of tlie 

month the government 

was organized by the election of Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as provis¬ 
ional President, and Alexander H. Stephens as Vice-President. On the 
same day of the meeting of the Confederate Congress, at Montgomery, a 
peace conference assembled at Washington. Delegates from twenty-one 
States were present; certain amendments to the Constitution were pro¬ 
posed and laid before Congress for adoption, but that body gave little heed 
to the measures suggested, and the conference adjourned without practical 
results. 

12. The country seemed on the verge of ruin. The national govern¬ 
ment was for the time being paralyzed. The army was stationed in de¬ 
tachments on remote frontiers. The fleet was scattered in distant seas. 
The President was distracted with hesitancy and the adverse counsels of 
his friends. With the exception of Forts Sumter and Moultrie in 
Charleston Harbor, Fort Pickens near Pensacola, and Fortress Monroe in 
the Chesapeake, all the important posts in the seceded States had been 



LINCOLN’S ADMINISTRATION. 


413 


seized by the Confederate authorities, even before the organization of their 
government. All this while the local warfare in Kansas had continued; 
but the Free State party had at last gained the ascendency, and the early 
admission of the new commonwealth, with two additional Republican 
senators, was foreseen. Early in January the President made a feeble 
attempt to reinforce and provision the garrison of Fort Sumter. The 
steamer Star of the West was sent with men and supplies, but in approach¬ 
ing the harbor of Charleston was fired on by a Confederate battery and 
compelled to return. Thus in gloom and grief, and the upheavals of 
revolution, the administration of Buchanan drew to a close. Such was 
the dreadful condition of affairs that it was deemed prudent for the new 
President to approach the capital without recognition. For the first time 
in the history of the nation the chief magistrate of the republic slipped 
into Washington city by night. 


CHAPTER XVI. 

LINCOLN’S ADMINISTRATION AND THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865. , 

A BRAHAM LINCOLN, sixteenth President of the United States, 
was a native of Kentucky, born on the 12th of February, 1809. 
At the age of seven he was taken with his father’s family to Southern 
Indiana, where his boyhood was passed in poverty, hardship and toil. 
On reaching his majority he left the farm and river life, removed to 
Illinois and became a student of law. He soon distinguished himself in 
his profession, was elected to the legislature of his adopted State, and 
afterward to Congress. He gained his first national reputation in 1858, 
when, as the competitor of Stephen A. Douglas, he canvassed the State of 
Illinois for the United States Senate. His contest with Mr. Douglas 
proved him to be one of the foremost debaters of the country. The posi¬ 
tion to which he was now called was one of fearful responsibility and 
trial. 

2. The new cabinet was organized with William H. Seward of New 
York as secretary of state. Salmon P. Chase of Ohio was chosen secre¬ 
tary of the treasury, and Simon Cameron secretary of war; but he, in 
the following January, was succeeded in office by Edwin M. Stanton. 
The secretaryship of the navy was conferred on Gideon Welles. In his 



414 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


inaugural address and first official papers the President indicated the 
policy of the new administration by declaring his purpose to repossess the 
forts, arsenals and public property which had been seized by the Confed¬ 
erate authorities. It was with this purpose that the first military prepa¬ 
rations were made. In the mean time, on the 12th of March, an effort was 

made by commissioners 
of the seceded States 
to obtain from the na¬ 
tional government a 
recognition of their 
independence; but the 
negotiations were un¬ 
successful. Then fol¬ 
lowed a second attempt 
on the part of the 
government to rein¬ 
force the garrison of 
Fort Sumter; and 
with that came the 
beginning of actual 
hostilities. 

3. The defences of 
Charleston Harbor 
were held by Major 
Robert Anderson. 
His entire force 
amounted to seventy- 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Mile nidi. Owillg tO 

the weakness of his 

garrison, he deemed it prudent to evacuate Fort Moultrie and retire to 
Sumter. Meanwhile, Confederate volunteers had flocked to the city, 
and powerful batteries had been built about the harbor. When it 
became known that the Federal government would reinforce the forts, 
the authorities of the Confederate States determined to anticipate the 
movement by compelling Anderson to surrender. Accordingly, on the 
11th of April, General P. T. Beauregard, commandant of Charleston, sent 
a flag to Fort Sumter, demanding an evacuation. Major Anderson replied 
that he should hold the fortress and defend his flag. On the following 
morning, at half-past four o’clock, the first gun was fired from a Con¬ 
federate battery. A terrific bombardment of thirty-four hours’ duration 
followed ; the fort was reduced to ruins, set on fire, and obliged to capitu- 



LINCOLN 7 S ADMINISTRATION. 


415 


late. The honors of war were granted to Anderson and his men, who 
had made a brave and obstinate resistance. Although the cannonade had 
been long continued and severe, no lives were lost either in the fort or on 
the shore. Thus the defences of Charleston Harbor were secured by the 
Confederates. 

4. The news of this startling event went through the country like a 
flame of fire. Public opinion in both the North and the South was rap¬ 
idly consolidated. Three days after the fall of Sumter President Lincoln 
issued a call for seventy-five thousand volunteers to serve three months in 
the overthrow of the secession movement. Two days later Virginia se¬ 
ceded from the Union. On the 6th of May Arkansas followed the ex¬ 
ample, and then North Carolina on the 20th of the same month. In 
Tennessee—especially in East Tennessee—there was a powerful opposition 
to disunion, and it was not until the 8th of June that a secession ordi¬ 
nance could be passed. In Missouri, as will presently be seen, the move- 

, ment resulted in civil war, while in Kentucky the authorities issued a 
proclamation of neutrality. The people of Maryland were divided into 
hostile parties, the disunion sentiment being largely prevalent. 

5. On the 19th of April, when the first regiments of Massachusetts 
volunteers were passing through Baltimore on their way to Washington, 
they were fired upon by the citizens, and three men killed. This was the 
first bloodshed of the war. On the day before this event a body of Con¬ 
federate soldiers advanced against the armory of the United States at 
Harper’s Ferry. The officer in command hastily destroyed a portion of 
the vast magazine collected there, and then escaped into Pennsylvania. 
On the 20th of the month another company of Virginians assailed the 
great navy yard at Norfolk. The officers commanding fired the build¬ 
ings and ships, spiked the cannon and withdrew their forces. Most of 
the guns and many of the vessels were afterward recovered by the Con¬ 
federates, the property thus captured amounting to fully ten millions of 
dollars. So rapidly was Virginia filled with volunteers and troops from 
the South that, for a while, Washington city was in danger of being 
taken. But the capital v r as soon secured from immediate danger; and 
on the 3d of May the President issued another call for soldiers. This 
time the number was set at eighty-three thousand, and the term of service 
at three years or during the war. Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott 
was made commander-in-chief. As many war ships as could be provided 
were sent to blockade the Southern ports. On every side were heard the 
notes of preparation. In the seceded States there was boundless and in¬ 
cessant activity. Already the Southern Congress had adjourned from 
Montgomery, to meet on the 20th of July at Richmond, w r hich was 

27 


416 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


chosen as the capital of the Confederacy. To that place had already 
come Mr. Davis and the officers of his cabinet, for the purpose of direct¬ 
ing the affairs of the government and the army. So stood the antag¬ 
onistic powers in the beginning of June, 1861. It was now evident to 
all men (how slow they had been to believe it!) that a great war, perhaps 
the greatest in modern times, was impending over the nation. It is 
appropriate to look briefly into the Causes of the approaching conflict. 


CHAPTER XVII. 


CA USES. 


T HE first and most general cause of the civil war in the United States 
was the different construction put upon the national Constitution by the 
people of the North and the South. A difference of opinion had always 
existed as to how that instrument was to be understood. The question 
at issue was as to the relation between the States and the general govern¬ 
ment. One party held that under the Constitution the Union of the 
States is indissoluble; that the sovereignty of the nation is lodged in the 
central government; that the States are subordinate; that the acts of 
Congress, until they are repealed or pronounced unconstitutional by the 
supreme court, are binding on the States; that the highest allegiance of 
the citizen is due to the general government, and not to his own State; 
and that all attempts at nullification and disunion are in their nature dis¬ 
loyal and treasonable. The other party held that the national Constitu¬ 
tion is a compact between sovereign States; that for certain reasons the 
Union may be dissolved; that the sovereignty of the nation is lodged in 
the individual States, and not in the central government; that Congress 
can exercise no other than delegated powers; that a State feeling ag¬ 
grieved may annul an act of Congress; that the highest allegiance of the 
citizen is due to his own State, and afterward to the general government; 
and that acts of nullification and disunion are justifiable, revolutionary 
and honorable. 

2. Here was an issue in its consequences the most fearful that ever 
disturbed a nation. It struck right into the vitals of the government. 



LINCOLN’S ADMINISTRATION. 


417 


It threatened with each renewal of the agitation to undo the whole civil 
structure of the United States. For a long time the parties who disputed 
about the meaning of the Constitution were scattered in various sections. 
In the earlier history of the country the doctrine of State sovereignty was 
most advocated in New England. With the rise of the tariff question 
the position of parties changed. Since the tariff—a congressional mea¬ 
sure—favored the Eastern States at the expense of the South, it came to 
pass naturally that the people of New England passed over to the advo¬ 
cacy of national sovereignty, while the people of the South took up the 
doctrine of State rights. Thus it happened that as early as 1831 the right 
of nullifying an act of Congress was openly advocated in South Carolina, 
and thus also it happened that the belief in State sovereignty became more 
prevalent in the South than in the North. These facts tended powerfully 
to produce sectional parties and to bring them into conflict. 

3. A second general cause of the civil war was the different system of 
labor in the North and in the South. In the former section the laborers 
were freemen, citizens, voters; in the latter, bondmen, property, slaves. 
In the South the theory was that the capital of a country should own the 
labor; in the North that both labor and capital are free. In the begin¬ 
ning all the colonies had been slaveholding. In the Eastern and Middle 
States the system of slave-labor was gradually abolished, being unprofit¬ 
able. In the five great States formed out of the North-western Territory 
slavery was excluded by the original compact under which that Territory 
was organized. Thus there came to be a dividing line drawn through 
the Union east and west. It was evident, therefore, that whenever the 
question of slavery was agitated a sectional division would arise between 
the parties, and that disunion and war would be threatened. The danger 
arising from this source was increased and the discord between the sections 
aggravated by several subordinate causes. 

4. The first of these was the invention of the Cotton Gin. In 
1793, Eli Whitney, a young collegian of Massachusetts, went to Georgia, 
and resided with the family of Mrs. Greene, widow of General Greene, 
of the Revolution. While there his attention was directed to the tedious 
and difficult process of picking cotton by hand—that is, separating the 
seed from the fibre. So slow was the process that the production of up¬ 
land cotton was nearly profitless. The industry of the cotton-growing 
States was paralyzed by the tediousness of preparing the product for the 
market. Mr. Whitney undertook to remove the difficulty, and succeeded 
in inventing a gin which astonished the beholder by the rapidity and 
excellence of its work. From being profitless, cotton became the most 
profitable of all the staples. The industry of the South was revolution- 


418 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


ized. Before the civil war it was estimated that Whitney’s gin had 
added a thousand millions of dollars to the revenues of the Southern 
States. The American crop had grown to be seven-eighths of all the 
cotton produced in the world. Just in proportion to the increased profit¬ 
ableness of cotton slave-labor became important, slaves valuable and the 
system of slavery a fixed and deep-rooted institution. 

5. From this time onward there was constant danger that the slavery 
question would so embitter the politics and legislation of the country as 
to bring about disunion. The danger of such a result was fully mani¬ 
fested in the Missouri Agitation of 1820-21. Threats of dissolving 
the Union were freely made in both the North and the South—in the 
North, because of the proposed enlargement of the domain of slavery; in 
the South, because of the proposed rejection of Missouri as a slave-holding 
State. When the Missouri Compromise was enacted, it was the hope of 
Mr. Clay and his fellow-statesmen to save the Union by removing for ever 
the slavery question from the politics of the country. In that they suc¬ 
ceeded for a while. 

6. Next came the Nullification Acts of South Carolina. And 
these, too, turned upon the institution of slavery and the profitableness of 
cotton. The Southern States had become cotton-producing; the Eastern 
States had given themselves to manufacturing. The tariff measures 
favored manufactures at the expense of producers. Mr. Calhoun and his 
friends proposed to remedy the evil complained of by annulling the laws 
of Congress. His measures failed; but another compromise was found 
necessary in order to allay the animosities which had been awakened. 

7. The Annexation of Texas, with the consequent enlargement of 
the domain of slavery, led to a renewal of the agitation. Those who 
opposed the Mexican War did so, not so much because of the injustice of 
the conflict as because of the fact that thereby slavery would be extended. 
Then, at the close of the war, came another enormous acquisition of 
territory. Whether the same should be made into free or slave-holding 
States was the question next agitated. This controversy led to the passage 
of the Omnibus Bill, by which again for a brief period the excitement 
was allayed. 

8. In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska bill was passed. Thereby the 
Missouri Compromise was repealed and the whole question opened anew. 
Meanwhile, the character and the civilization of the Northern and the 
Southern people had become quite different. In population and wealth 
the North had far outgrown the South. In the struggle for territorial 
dominion the North had gained a considerable advantage. In 1860 the 
division of the Democratic party made certain the election of Mr. Lincoln 


LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION. 


419 


by the votes of the Northern States. The people of the South were 
exasperated at the choice of a chief-magistrate whom they regarded as 
indifferent to their welfare and hostile to their interests. 

9. The third general cause of the civil war was the want of intercourse 
between the people of the North and the South. The great railroads and 
thoroughfares ran east and west. Emigration flowed from the East to the 
West. Between the North and the South there was little travel or inter¬ 
change of opinion. From want of acquaintance the people, witoout in¬ 
tending it, became estranged, jealous, suspicious. They misjudged each 
other’s motives. They misrepresented each other’s beliefs and purposes. 
They suspected each other of dishonesty and ill-will. Before the out¬ 
break of the war the people of the two sections looked upon each other 
almost in the light of different nationalities. 

10. A fourth cause was found in the publication of sectional books. Dur¬ 
ing the twenty years preceding the war many works were published, both 
in the North and the South, whose popularity depended wholly on the 
animosity existing between the two sections. Such books were generally 
filled with ridicule and falsehood. The manners and customs, language 
and beliefs, of one section were held up to the contempt and scorn of the 
people of the other section. The minds of all classes, especially of the 
young, were thus prejudiced and poisoned. In the North the belief was 
fostered that the South was given up to inhumanity, ignorance and bar¬ 
barism, while in the South the opinion prevailed that the Northern people 
were a selfish race of mean, cold-blooded Yankees. 

11. The evil influence of demagogues may be cited as the fifth general 
cause of the war. It is the misfortune of republican governments that 
they many times fall under the leadership of bad men. In the United 
States the demagogue has enjoyed special opportunities for mischief, and 
the people have suffered in proportion. From 1850 to 1860 American 
statesmanship and patriotism were at a low ebb. Many ambitious and 
scheming men had come to the front, taken control of the political parties 
and proclaimed themselves the leaders of public opinion. Their purposes 
were wholly selfish. The welfare and peace of the country were put aside 
as of no value. In order to gain power and keep it many unprincipled 
men in the South were anxious to destroy the Union, while the dema¬ 
gogues of the North were willing to abuse the Union in order to accom¬ 
plish their own bad purposes. Such, in brief, were the causes which led 
to the civil war, one of the most terrible conflicts of modern times. 


420 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR. 

O N the 24th of May the Union army crossed the Potomac from Wash¬ 
ington city to Alexandria. At this time Fortress Monroe, at the 
mouth of James River, was held by twelve thousand men, under command 
of General B. F. Butler. At Bethel Church, in the immediate vicin¬ 
ity, was stationed a detachment of Con¬ 
federates commanded by General Ma- 
gruder. On the 10th of June a body 
of Union troops was sent to dislodge 
them, but was repulsed with consider¬ 
able loss. Meanwhile the conquest of 
West Virginia had been undertaken 
by General George B. M’Clellan. 

2. In the last days of May General T. 
A. Morris moved forward from Parkers¬ 
burg to Grafton with a force of Ohio and 
Indiana troops, and on the 3d of June 
came upon the Confederates stationed at 
Philippi. After a brief engagement the 
Federals were successful; the Confede¬ 
rates retreated toward the mountains. General McClellan now arrived, 
took command in person, and on the 11th of July gained a victory at Rich 
Mountain. General Garnett, the Confederate commander, fell back with 
his forces to Garrick’s Ford, on Cheat River, made a stand, was again de¬ 
feated and himself killed in the battle. On the 10th of August General 
Floyd, commanding a detachment of Confederates at Carnifex Ferry, on 
Gauley River, was attacked by General Rosecrans and obliged to retreat. 
On the 14th of September a division of Confederates under General Rob¬ 
ert E. Lee was beaten in an engagement at Cheat Mountain—an action 
which completed the restoration of Federal authority in West Virginia. 
In the mean time, other movements of vast importance had taken place. 

3. In the beginning of June General Robert Patterson marched from 
Chambersburg with the intention of recapturing Harper’s Ferry. On 
the 11th of the month a division of the army commanded by Colonel 



SCENE OF OPERATIONS IN WEST 
VIRGINIA, 1861. 





FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR. 


421 


Lewis W allace made a sudden and successful onset upon a detachment 
of Confederates stationed at Romney. Patterson then crossed the Poto¬ 
mac with the main body, entered the Shenandoah Valley, and pressed 
back the Confederate forces to Winchester. Thus far there had been 
only petty engagements, skirmishes and marching. The time had now 
come when the first great battle of the war was to be fought. 

4. After the Union successes in West Virginia the main body of the 
Confederates, under command of General Beauregard, was concentrated 
at Manassas Junction, on the Orange Railroad, twenty-seven miles west 
of Alexandria. Another large force, commanded by General Joseph E. 
Johnston, was within supporting distance in the Shenandoah Valley. The 
Union army at Alexandria was commanded by General Irwin McDowell, 
while General Patterson was stationed in front of Johnston to watch his 
movements and prevent his forming 
a junction with Beauregard. On the 
16th of July the national army moved 
forward. Two days afterward an 
unimportant engagement took place 
between Centreville and Bull Run. 

The Unionists then pressed on, and on 
the morning of the 21st came upon 
the Confederate army, strongly posted 
between Bull Run and Manassas 
Junction. A general battle ensued, 
continuing with great severity until 
noonday. At that hour the advan¬ 
tage was with McDowell, and it 
seemed not unlikely that the Confed¬ 
erates would suffer a complete defeat. 

But in the crisis of the battle General Johnston arrived with nearly six 
thousand fresh troops from the Shenandoah Valley. The tide of victory 
turned immediately, and in a short time McDowell’s whole army was 
hurled back in utter rout and confusion. A ruinous panic spread through 
the defeated host. Soldiers and citizens, regulars and volunteers, horsemen 
and footmen, rolled back in a disorganized mass into the defences of 
Washington. The Union loss in killed, wounded and prisoners amounted 
to two thousand nine hundred and fifty-two; that of the Confederates to 
two thousand and fifty. 

5. Great was the humiliation of the North, and greater the rejoicing of 
the South. For a while the Federal government was more concerned about 
its own safety than about the conquest of Richmond. In that city, on the 



VICINITY OF MANASSAS JUNCTION, 1861 . 





422 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


day before the battle, the new Confederate government was organized. In 
the Southern Congress and cabinet were many men of distinguished abil¬ 
ities. Jefferson Davis, the President, was a far-sighted man, of wide expe¬ 
rience in the affairs of state, and considerable reputation as a soldier. He 
had led the troops of Mississippi in the Mexican War, had served in both 
houses of the national Congress, and as a member of President Pierce’s 
cabinet. His talents, decision of character and ardent advocacy of State 

rights had made him a 
natural leader of the 
South. 

6. The next milita¬ 
ry movements were 
made in Missouri. 
That commonwealth, 
though slaveholding, 
still retained its place 
in the Union. A con¬ 
vention, called by 
Governor Jackson in 
accordance with an act 
of the legislature, had 
in the previous March 
refused to pass an or¬ 
dinance of secession. 
The disunionists, how¬ 
ever, were numerous 
and powerful; the 
governor favored their 
cause, and the State 
became a battle-field 
for the contending 
parties. Both Federal and Confederate camps were organized, and hos¬ 
tilities began in several places. By capturing the United States arsenal 
at Liberty, in Clay county, the Confederates obtained a considerable sup¬ 
ply of arms and ammunition. By the formation of Camp Jackson, near 
St. Louis, the arsenal in that city was also endangered; but by the vigi¬ 
lance of Captain Nathaniel Lyon the arms and stores were sent up the 
river to Alton, and thence to Springfield. Camp Jackson was soon after¬ 
ward broken up by the exertions of the same officer. 

7. The lead-mines in the south-west part of the State became an object 
of great importance to the Confederates, who, in order to secure them. 



JEFFERSON DAVIS. 


FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR. 


423 


hurried up large bodies of troops from Arkansas and Texas. On the 17th 
of June Lyon encountered Governor Jackson with a Confederate force at 
Booneville, and gained a decided advantage. On the 5th of July the 
Unionists, led by Colonel Franz Sigel, were again successful in a severe 
engagement with the governor at Carthage. On the 10th of August the 
hardest battle thus far fought in the West occurred at Wilson’s Creek, a 
short distance south of Springfield. General Lyon made a daring but 
rash attack on a much superior force of Confederates under command of 
Generals McCullough and Price. The Federals at first gained the field 
against heavy odds, but General Lyon was killed, and his men retreated 
under direction of Sigel. 

8. General Price now 
pressed northward across the 
State to Lexington, on the 
Missouri River. This place 
was defended by a force of 
Federals two thousand six 
hundred strong, commanded 
by Colonel Mulligan. A 
stubborn defence was made 
by the garrison, but Mulligan 
was soon obliged to capitulate. 

Price then turned southward, 
and on the 16th of October 
Lexington was retaken by 
the Federals. General John 
C. Fremont, who had been scene of operations in the south-west, isbi. 
appointed to the command of 

the Union forces in Missouri, followed the Confederates as far as Spring- 
field, and was on the eve of making an attack, when he was superseded 
by General Hunter. The latter, after retreating to St. Louis, was in turn 
superseded by General Halleck on the 18th of November. It was now 
Price’s turn to fall back toward Arkansas. The only remaining move¬ 
ment of importance was at Belmont, on the Mississippi. 

9. The Confederate general Polk, acting under orders of his govern¬ 
ment, had, notwithstanding that State’s neutrality, entered Kentucky with 
an army, and had captured the town of Columbus. Batteries planted here 
commanded the Mississippi. The Confederates gathered in force at Bel¬ 
mont, on the opposite bank. In order to dislodge them Colonel Ulys¬ 
ses S. Grant, with a brigade of three thousand Illinois troops, was sent by 
way of Cairo into Missouri. On the 7th of November he made a vigor- 





424 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


ous and successful attack on the Confederate camp; but General Polk 
sent reinforcements across the river, the guns of Columbus were brought 
to* bear on the Union position, and Grant was obliged to retreat. 

10. The rout at Bull Run had the effect to quicken the energies of the 
North, and troops were rapidly hurried to Washington. The aged Gen¬ 
eral Scott, unable to bear the burden resting upon him, retired from active 
duty, and General McClellan was called from West Virginia to take com¬ 
mand of the Army of the Potomac. By the middle of October his forces 
had increased to a hundred and fifty thousand men. On the 21st of that 
month a brigade, numbering nearly two thousand, was thrown across the 
Potomac at Balks Bluff. Without proper support or means of retreat, 
the Federals were attacked by a strong force of Confederates under Gen¬ 
eral Evans, driven to the river, their leader, Colonel Baker, killed, and 
the whole force routed with terrible loss. Fully eight hundred of Baker’s 
men were killed, wounded or taken prisoners. 

11. During the summer of 1861 the Federal government sent to sea 
several important naval expeditions. One of these, commanded by Com¬ 
modore Stringham and General Butler, proceeded to the North Carolina 
coast, and on the 29th of August captured the forts at Hatteras Inlet. 
On the 7th of November a second armament, under command of Com¬ 
modore Dupont and General Thomas W. Sherman, entered the harbor of 
Port Royal, and captured Forts Walker and Beauregard. Hilton Head, 
a point most advantageous for military operations against Charleston and 
Savannah, thus fell into the power of the Federals. Around the whole 
coast the blockade became so rigorous that commerce and communication 
between the Confederate States and foreign nations were almost wholly 
cut off. In this juncture of affairs a difficulty arose which brought the 
United States and Great Britain to the very verge of war. 

12. The Confederate government had appointed James M. Mason and 
John Slidell, formerly senators of the United States, to go abroad as am¬ 
bassadors from the Confederate States to Franee and England. The envoys 
went on board a blockade runner, and escaping from Charleston Harbor, 
reached Havana in safety. At that port they took passage on the British 
mail steamer Trent, and sailed for Europe. On the 8th of November 
the vessel was overtaken by the United States frigate San Jacinto, com¬ 
manded by Captain Wilkes. The Trent was hailed and boarded; the 
two ambassadors and their secretaries were seized, transferred to the San 
Jacinto, carried to Boston, and imprisoned. The Trent proceeded on her 
way to England ; the story of the insult to the British flag was told, and 
the whole kingdom burst out in a blaze of wrath. 

13. At first the people of the United States loudly applauded Captain 


CAMP AIGJSS OP ’ 62 . 


425 



Wilkes, and the government was disposed to defend his action. Had 
such a course been taken, war would have been inevitable. The country 
was saved from the 
peril by the adroit and 
far-reaching diploma¬ 
cy of William H. Sew¬ 
ard, the secretary of 
state. When Great 
Britain demanded rep¬ 
aration for the insult 
and the immediate lib¬ 
eration of the prison¬ 
ers, he replied in a 
mild, cautious and very 
able paper. It was con¬ 
ceded that the seizure 
of Mason and Slidell 
Was not justifiable ac¬ 
cording to the law of 
nations. A suitable 
apology was made for 
the wrong done, the 
Confederate ambassa¬ 
dors were liberated, 
put on board a vessel william h. seward. 

and sent to their des¬ 
tination. This action of the secretary was both just and politic. The 
peril of war went by, and Great Britain was committed to a policy in 
regard to the rights of neutral flags which she had hitherto denied and 
which the United States had always contended for. So ended the first 
year of the civil war. 


CHAPTER XIX. 

CAMPAIGNS OF ' 62 . 

T HE Federal forces now numbered about four hundred and fifty thou¬ 
sand men. Of these nearly two hundred thousand, under command 
of General McClellan, were encamped in the vicinity of Washington. 
Another army, commanded by General Buell, was stationed at Louisville, 




426 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Kentucky, and it was in this department that the first military move¬ 
ments of the year were made. On the 9th of January Colonel Humphrey 
Marshall, commanding a force of Confederates on Big Sandy River, in 
Eastern Kentucky, was attacked and defeated by a body of Unionists, led 
by Colonel Garfield. Ten days later another and more important battle 
was fought at Mill Spring, in the same section of the State. The Con¬ 
federates were commanded by Generals Crittenden and Zollicoffer, and 
the Federals by General George H. Thomas. After a hot engagement, 
in which both sides lost heavily, the Confederates suffered a defeat which 
was rendered more severe by the loss of Zollicoffer, who fell in the battle. 

2. The next operations were on the Tennessee and the Cumberland. 
The former river was commanded at the southern border of Kentucky by 
Fort Henry, and the latter by the more important Fort Donelson, ten 
miles south of the Tennessee line. At the beginning of the year the cap¬ 
ture of both these places was planned by General Halleek. Early in 
February Commodore Foote was sent up the Tennessee with a flotilla of 
gunboats, and at the same time General Grant was ordered to move for¬ 
ward and co-operate in an attack on Fort Henry. Before the land-forces 
were well into position the flotilla compelled the evacuation of the fort, 
the Confederates escaping to Donelson. Eighty-three prisoners and a 
large amount of stores were captured. 

3. The Federal gunboats now dropped down the Tennessee, took on 
supplies at Cairo, and then ascended the Cumberland. Grant pressed on 
from Fort Henry, and as soon as the flotilla arrived began the siege of 
Fort Donelson. The defences were strong, and well manned by more 
than ten thousand Confederates, under General Buckner. Grant’s entire 
force numbered nearly thirty thousand. On the 14th of February the 
gunboats were driven back with considerable loss, Commodore Foote 
being among the wounded. On the next day the garrison, hoping to 
break through Grant’s lines, made a sally, but met a severe repulse. On 
the 16th Buckner was obliged to surrender. His army of ten thousand 
men became prisoners of war, and all the magazines, stores and guns of 
the fort fell into the hands of the Federals. It was the first decided vic¬ 
tory which had been won by the national arms. The immediate result 
of the capture was the evacuation of Kentucky and the capital of Tennes¬ 
see by the Confederates. 

4. After his success at Fort Donelson General Grant ascended the Ten¬ 
nessee as far as Pittsburg Landing. In the beginning of April a camp 
was established at Shiloh Church, a short distance from the river; and 
here, on the morning jf the 6th, the Union army was suddenly attacked 
by the Confederates, led by Generals Albert S. Johnston and Beauregard. 


CAMPAIGNS OF ’ 62 . 


427 


The onset was at first successful. All day long the battle raged with tre¬ 
mendous slaughter on both sides. The Federals were forced back to the 
river, and but for the protection of the gunboats would have been driven 
to destruction. Night fell on the scene with the conflict undecided; but 
in this desperate crisis General Buell arrived from Nashville with strong 
reinforcements. On the following morning General Grant assumed the 
offensive. General Johnston had been killed in the battle, and Beaure¬ 
gard, on whom the command devolved, was obliged to retreat to Corinth. 
The losses in killed, wounded and missing in this dreadful conflict were 
more than ten thousand on each side. There had never before been such 
a harvest of death in the New World. 

5. Events of importance were also taking place on the Mississippi. 
When the Confederates evacuated Columbus, Kentucky, they proceeded 
to Island Number Ten, a few miles below, and built strong fortifications 
commanding the river. On the western shore was the town of New Mad¬ 
rid, which was held by a Confederate force from Missouri. Against 
this place General Pope advanced with a body of Western troops, while 
Commodore Foote descended the Mississippi with his flotilla to attack 
the forts on the island. Pope was entirely successful in his movement, 
and gained possession of New Madrid. The land-forces then co-operated 
with the gunboats, and for twenty-three days Island Number Ten was 
vigorously bombarded. On the 7th of April, when the Confederates 
could hold out no longer, they attempted to escape; but Pope had cut off 
retreat, and the entire garrison, numbering about five thousand, was cap¬ 
tured. The Mississippi was thus opened as far down as Memphis, and 
that city was taken by the fleet of Commodore Davis on the 6th of the 
following June. 

6. In the beginning of the year General Curtis had pushed forward 
through Missouri, entered Arkansas and taken position at Pea Ridge, 
among the mountains in the north-western angle of the State. Here he 
was attacked on the 6th of March by an army of more than twenty thou¬ 
sand Confederates and Indians, under command of Generals McCulloch, 
McIntosh and Pike. After a hard-fought battle, which lasted for two 
days, the Federals were victorious. McCulloch and McIntosh were both 
killed and their men obliged to retreat toward Texas; but the Union 
losses were most severe, and the battle was barren of results. 

7. On the next day after the conflict at Pea Ridge an event occurred 
at Fortress Monroe which came near changing the character of naval 
warfare. Captain John Ericsson of New York had invented and built a 
peculiar war-vessel with a single round tower of iron exposed above the 
water-line. Meanwhile, the Confederates had raised the United States 


428 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


frigate Merrimcic, one of the sunken ships at the Norfolk navy yard, and 
had plated the sides with an impenetrable mail of iron. This done, the 
vessel was sent to attack the Union fleet at Fortress Monroe. Reaching 
that place on the 8th of March, the Merrimac, now called the Virginia, 
began the work of destruction, and before sunset two valuable vessels, the 
Cumberland and the Congress, were sent to the bottom. During the night, 
however, Ericsson’s strange ship, called the Monitor, arrived from New 
York, and on the following morning the two iron-clad monsters turned 
their terrible enginery upon each other. After fighting for five hours, 
the Virginia was obliged to give up the contest and to return badly dam¬ 
aged to Norfolk. Such was the excitement produced by this novel sea- 
fight that for a while the whole energies of the navy department were 
devoted to building monitors. 

8. Early in 1862 a strong land and naval force, commanded by Gen¬ 
eral Ambrose E. Burnside and Commodore Goldsborough, was sent 
against the Confederate garrison of Roanoke Island. On the 8th of Feb¬ 
ruary the squadron reached its destination; the fortifications on the island 
were attacked and carried, and the garrisons, nearly three thousand strong, 
taken prisoners. Burnside next proceeded against Newbern, North Car¬ 
olina, and on the 14th of March captured the city after four hours of 
severe fighting. Proceeding southward, he reached the harbor of Beau¬ 
fort, carried Fort Macon, at the entrance, and on the 25th of April took 
possession of the town. 

9. On the 11th of the same month Fort Pulaski, commanding the 
mouth of the Savannah River, surrendered to General Gillmore. By 
this important capture the chief emporium of Georgia was effectually 
blockaded. But these reverses of the Confederates were trifling in com¬ 
parison with that which they sustained in the loss of the city of New 
Orleans. Early in April a powerful squadron, commanded by General 
Butler and Admiral Farragut, entered the Mississippi and proceeded as 
far as Forts Jackson and St. Philip, thirty miles above the gulf. The 
guns of these forts, standing on opposite shores, completely commanded 
the river, and obstructions had been placed in the channel. The forty- 
five vessels comprising the Federal fleet were brought into position, 
and a furious bombardment of the forts was begun. From the 18th to 
the 24th of April the fight continued without cessation. At the end of 
that time the forts were but little injured, and Farragut undertook the 
hazardous enterprise of running past the batteries. In this he succeeded, 
breaking the chain across the river and overpowering the Confederate 
fleet above the obstructions. On the next day he reached New Orleans 
with a portion of his fleet, and took possession of the city. General But- 


CAMPAIGNS OF ’ 62 . 


429 


ler became commandant, and the fortifications were manned with fifteen 
thousand Federal soldiers. Three days afterward Forts Jackson and St. 
Philip surrendered to Admiral Porter, who had remained below and 
prosecuted the siege. The control of the Lower Mississippi and the me¬ 
tropolis of the South was thus recovered by the Federal government. 

10. The Confederates were not going to give up Kentucky without a 
struggle. From East Tennessee they invaded the State in two strong 
divisions, the one led by General Kirby Smith and the other by General 
Bragg. On the 30th of August Smith’s army reached Richmond, at¬ 
tacked a force of Federals stationed there, and routed them with heavy 
losses. Lexington was taken, and then Frankfort ; and Cincinnati was 
saved from capture only by the extraordinary exertions of General Wal¬ 
lace. Meanwhile, the army of General Bragg had advanced from Chatta¬ 
nooga to Mumfordsville, where, on the 17th of September, he captured a 
Federal division of four thousand five hundred men. From this point 
the Confederate general pressed on toward Louisville, and would have 
taken the city but for a forced march of General Buell from Tennessee. 
The latter arrived with his army only one day ahead of Bragg, but that 
one day gave the Unionists the advantage, and the Confederates were 
turned back. From the North came reinforcements for Buell’s army, 
swelling his numbers to a hundred thousand. In the beginning of Octo¬ 
ber he again took the field, the Confederates slowly retiring to Perryville. 
At this place, on the 8th of October, Bragg was overtaken, and a severe 
but indecisive battle was fought. The retreat was then continued to East 
Tennessee, the Confederates sweeping out of Kentucky a train of four 
thousand wagons laden with the spoils of the campaign. 

11. In September there were some stirring events in Mississippi. On 
the 19th of the month a hard battle was fought at Iuka between a Fed¬ 
eral army, commanded by Generals Rosecrans and Grant, and a Confed¬ 
erate force, under General Price. The latter was defeated, losing, in addi¬ 
tion to his killed and wounded, nearly a thousand prisoners. General 
Rosecrans now .took post at Corinth with twenty thousand men, while 
General Grant, with the remainder of the Federal forces, proceeded to 
Jackson, Tennessee. Perceiving this division of the army, the Confede¬ 
rate generals Van Dorn and Price turned about to recapture Corinth. 
Advancing for that purpose, they came on the 3d of October upon the 
Federal defences. Another obstinately contested battle ensued, which 
ended, after two days’ fighting and heavy losses on both sides, in the re¬ 
pulse of the Confederates. 

12. In the mean time, General Grant had removed his headquarters 
from Jackson to La Grange. His purpose was to co-operate with Gen- 


430 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


eral Sherman, then at Memphis, in an effort to capture Vicksburg. The 
movement promised to be successful, but on the 20th of December Gene¬ 
ral Van Dorn succeeded in cutting Grant’s line of supplies at Holly 
Springs, and obliged him to retreat. On the same day General Sherman, 
with a powerful armament, dropped down the river from Memphis. Pro¬ 
ceeding as far as the Yazoo, he effected a landing, and on the 29th of the 
month made an unsuccessful attack on the Confederates at Chickasaw 
Bayou. The assault was exceedingly disastrous to the Federals, who lost 
in killed, wounded and prisoners more than three thousand men. The 
enterprise was at once abandoned, and the defeated army returned to the 
fleet of gunboats in the Mississippi. 

13. The closing conflict of this year’s operations in the West was the 
great battle of Murfreesborough. After his successful defence of Corinth 
General Rosecrans was transferred to the command of the Army of the 
Cumberland. Late in the fall he made his headquarters at Nashville, 
and there collected a powerful army. Meanwhile, General Bragg, on his 
retirement from Kentucky, had thrown his forces into Murfreesborough. 
Thus the two generals found themselves face to face, and but thirty miles 
apart. Late in December Rosecrans moved forward to attack his antag¬ 
onist, and on the evening of the 30th came upon the Confederates strongly 
posted on Stone’s River, a short distance north-west of Murfreesborough. 
On the following morning Bragg advanced to the attack, and a furious 
battle ensued, continuing until nightfall. Such was the success of the 
Confederates that the Union army was brought to the verge of ruin. But 
during the night Rosecrans rallied his forces, arranged his batteries, and 
at daybreak was ready to renew the conflict. On that day there was a 
lull, both generals preparing for the final struggle. On the morning of 
the 2d of January Bragg’s army again rushed to the onset, gained some 
successes at first, was then checked, and finally driven back with heavy 
losses. Bragg, however, withdrew his shattered columns in good order, 
then abandoned Murfreesborough and filed off toward Chattanooga. In 
this desperate engagement the losses amounted to more than ten thousand 
on each side. 

14. In Virginia the campaigns of 1862 were even more grand and de¬ 
structive than those in the West. The first stirring scenes of the year 
were enacted in the Shenandoah Valley. Desiring to occupy this im¬ 
portant district, the Federal government sent forward a strong division 
under General Banks, who pressed his way southward, and in the last 
days of March occupied the town of Harrisonburg. In order to counter¬ 
act this movement, the gallant Stonewall Jackson was sent with a force 
of twenty thousand men to pass the Blue Ridge and cut off Banks’s re- 


CAMPAIGNS OF ’ 62 . 


431 


treat. At Front Royal, on the Shenandoah, just before the gap in the 
mountains, the Confederates fell upon a body of Federals, routed them, 
captured their guns and all the military stores in the town. Banks suc¬ 
ceeded, however, in passing with his main division to Strasburg. There 
he learned of the disaster at Front Royal, and immediately began his 
retreat down the valley. Jackson pursued him hotly, and it was only by 
the utmost exertions that the Federals gained the northern bank of the 
Potomac. 

15. The Confederate leader, though completely victorious, now found 

himself in great peril. For General Fremont, at the head of a strong 
force of fresh troops, had been sent into the valley to intercept the 

retreat of the Confederates. It was now Jackson’s time to save his 

army. With the utmost celerity he sped up the valley, and succeeded 
in reaching Cross Keys before Fremont could attack him. Even then 

the battle was so little decisive that Jackson pressed on to Port Re¬ 

public, attacked the division of General Shields, defeated it, and then 
retired from the scene of his brilliant campaign to join in the defence 
of Richmond. 

16. On the 10th of March the grand Army of the Potomac, number¬ 
ing nearly two hundred thousand men, under command of General Mc¬ 
Clellan, set out from the camps about Washington to capture the Confed¬ 
erate capital. The advance proceeded as far as Manassas Junction, the 
Confederates falling back and forming a new line of defences on the Rap¬ 
pahannock. At this stage of the campaign McClellan, changing his plan, 
embarked a hundred and twenty thousand of his men for Fortress Mon¬ 
roe, intending from that point to march up the peninsula between the 
James and the York. By the 4th of April the transfer of troops was 
completed, and the Union army left Fortress Monroe for Yorktown. 
This place was garrisoned by ten thousand Confederates, under General 
Magruder; and yet with so small a force McClellan’s advance was de¬ 
layed for a whole month. When at last, on the 4th of May, Yorktown 
was taken by siege, the Federal army pressed forward to Williamsburg, 
where the Confederates made a stand, but were defeated with severe losses. 
Four days afterward, in an engagement at West Point, at the confluence 
of the Mattapony and Pamunkey, the Confederates were again over¬ 
powered and driven back. The way to Richmond was now open as 
far as the Chickahominy, ten miles north of the city. The Union army 
reached that stream without further resistance, and crossed at Bottom’s 
Bridge. 

17. Meanwhile, General Wool, the commandant of Fortress Monroe, 
had not been idle. On the 10th of May he led an expedition against 

28 


432 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Norfolk and captured the town; for the Confederate garrison had been 
withdrawn to aid in the defence of Richmond. On the next day the 
celebrated iron-clad Virginia was blown up to save her from capture 
by the Federals. The James River was thus opened for the ingress of 

national transports laden with sup¬ 
plies for the Army of the Potomac. 
That army now advanced toward 
Richmond, and when but seven miles 
from the city was attacked on the 
31st of May by the Confederates at 
a place called Fair Oaks or Seven 
Pines. Here for a part of two days 
the battle raged with great fury. 
At last the Confederates were driven 
back; but McClellan’s victory was 
by no means decisive. The Confed¬ 
erate loss was largest, amounting to 
nearly eight thousand in killed and 
wounded; that of the Federals was 
more than five thousand. Among 
the severely wounded was General 
Joseph E. Johnston, the commander- 
in-chief of the Confederates. Two 

scene of campaign in vikginia, mary- ( ] a y S after the battle his place was 

LAND AND PENNSYLVANIA, 1862. ' . A 

filled by the appointment of General 
Robert E. Lee, a man of military genius, who, until its final downfall, 
remained the chief stay of the Confederacy. 

18. In the lull that followed the battle of Fair Oaks, McClellan formed 
the design of changing his base of supplies from the White House, on the 
Pamunkey, to some suitable point on the James. The movement was one 
of the utmost hazard, and before it was fairly begun General Lee, on the 
25th of June, swooped down on the right wing of the Union army at 
Oak Grove, and a hard-fought battle ensued without decisive results. On 
the next day another dreadful engagement occurred at Mechanicsville,, 
and this time the Federals won the field. But on the following morning 
Lee renewed the struggle at Gaines’s Mill, and came out victorious. On 
the 28th there was but little fighting. On the 29th McClellan’s retreat¬ 
ing army was twice attacked—in the morning at Savage’s Station and in 
the afternoon in the White Oak Swamp—but the divisions defending the 
rearguard kept the Confederates at bay. On the 30th was fought the 
desperate but indecisive battle of Glendale or Frazier’s Farm. On that 





CAMPAIGNS OF ’ 62 . 


433 


night tne Federal army reached Malvern Hill, on the north bank of the 
James, twelve miles below Richmond. Although this position was pro¬ 
tected by the Federal gunboats in the river, General Lee determined to carry 
the place by storm. Accordingly, on the morning of the 1st of July, the 
whole Confederate army rushed forward to the assault. All day long the 
furious struggle for the possession of the high grounds continued. Not un¬ 
til nine o’clock at night 



d i d Lee’s shattered 
columns fall back ex¬ 
hausted. For seven 
days the terrific roar 
of battle had been 
heard almost without 
cessation. No such 
dreadful scenes had 
ever before been en¬ 
acted on the American 
continent. 

19. Although vic¬ 
torious on Malvern 
Hill, General McClel¬ 
lan, instead of advan¬ 
cing at once on Rich¬ 
mond, chose a less 
hazardous movement, 
and on the 2d of July 
retired with his army 
to Harrison’s Land¬ 
ing, a few miles down general robert e. lee. 

the river. The great 

campaign was really at an end. The Federal army had lost more than 
fifteen thousand men, and the capture of Richmond, the great object for 
which the expedition had been undertaken, seemed further off than ever. 
The losses of the Confederates had been heavier than those of the Union 


army, but all the moral effects of a great victory remained with the ex¬ 
ultant South. 

20. General Lee, perceiving that Richmond was no longer endangered, 
immediately formed the design of invading Maryland and capturing the 
Federal capital. The Union troops between Richmond and M ashington, 
numbering in the aggregate about fifty thousand, were under command 
of General John Pope. They were scattered in detachments from Fred- 


434 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


ericksburg to Winchester and Harper’s Ferry. Lee moved northward 
about the middle of August, and on the 20th of the month Pope, concen¬ 
trating his forces as rapidly as possible, put the Rappahannock between 
his army and the advancing Confederates. Meanwhile, General Banks, 
while attempting to form a junction with Pope, was attacked by Stonewall 
Jackson at Cedar Mountain, where nothing but desperate fighting saved 
the Federals from complete rout. 

21. No sooner had Pope gotten his forces well in hand than Jackson 

shot by with his division on a flank 
movement, reached Manassas Junc¬ 
tion, and made large captures of 
men and stores. Pope with great 
audacity threw his army between 
the two divisions of the Confed¬ 
erates, hoping to crush Jackson be¬ 
fore Lee could come to the rescue. 
On August 28th and 29th there 
was terrible but indecisive fighting 
at Manassas Junction, the old Bull 
Run battle-ground, and Centreville. 
At one time it seemed that Lee’s 
army would be completely defeated; 
but Pope’s reinforcements were pur¬ 
posely withheld by General Porter, 

and on the 31st of the month the Confederates bore down on the Union 
army at Chantilly, fought all day, and won a victory. Generals Stevens 
and Kearney were among the thousands of brave men who fell in this bat¬ 
tle. On that night Pope withdrew his broken columns as rapidly as pos¬ 
sible, and found safety within the defences of Washington. His wish to 
be relieved of his command was immediately complied with; his forces, 
known as the Army of Virginia, were consolidated with the Army of the 
Potomac, which had now been recalled from the peninsula below Rich¬ 
mond ; and General McClellan was placed in supreme command of all 
the divisions about Washington. 

22. General Lee prosecuted his invasion of Maryland. Passing up the 
right bank of the Potomac, he crossed at Point of Rocks, and on the 6th 
of September captured Frederick. On the 10th Hagerstown was taken, 
and on the 15th a division of the Confederate army, led by Stonewall 
Jackson, came upon Harper’s Ferry and frightened Colonel Miles into a 
surrender by which the garrison, nearly twelve thousand strong, became 
prisoners of war. On the previous day there was a hard-fought engage- 








THE WORK OF ’ 63 . 


435 


ment at South Mountain, in which the Federate, led by Hatch and Dou- 
bieday, were victorious. McClellan’s whole army was now in the imme¬ 
diate rear of Lee, who, on the night of the 14th, fell back to Antietam 
Creek and took a strong position in the vicinity of Sharpsburg. Then 
followed two days of skirmishing and manoeuvring, which terminated 
on the 17th in one of the great battles of the war. From morning till 
night the struggle continued with unabated violence, and ended, after a 
loss of more than ten thousand men on each side, in a drawn battle. But 
to the Confederates, who were greatly inferior in numbers, the result was 
almost as disastrous as defeat. McClellan did not press his advantage, 
and Lee withdrew his forces from the field and recrossed the Potomac in 
safety. His campaign of only a month had cost him nearly thirty thou¬ 
sand men. 

23. General McClellan, following the retreating Confederates, again 
entered Virginia, and reached Rectortown. Here he was superseded in 
the command of the Army of the Potomac by General Burnside, who at 
once changed the plan of the campaign and advanced against Fredericks¬ 
burg, on the Rappahannock. Here the two armies in full force were again 
brought face to face with only the river between them. Burnside’s move¬ 
ment was fatally delayed by the non-arrival of his pontoons, and it was 
not until the 11th and 12th of December that a passage could be effected. 
Meanwhile, the heights south of the river had been thoroughly fortified, 
and the Union columns were hurled back in several desperate assaults 
which cost the assailants the dreadful loss of more than twelve thousand 
men. Thus in gloom and disaster to the Federal cause ended the great 
campaigns of 1862. 


CHAPTER XX. 

THE WORK OF '63. 

T HE war had now grown to enormous proportions. The Confederate 
States were draining every resource of men and means in order to 
support their armies. The superior energies of the North, though by no 
means exhausted, were greatly taxed. In the previous year, on the day 
after the battle of Malvern Hill, President Lincoln had issued a call for 
three hundred thousand additional troops. During the exciting days of 



436 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Pope’s retreat from the Rappahannock he sent forth another call for three 
hundred thousand, and to that was added a requisition for a draft of three 
hundred thousand more. Most of these enormous demands were promptly 
met, and it became evident that in respect to resources the Federal gov¬ 
ernment was vastly superior to the Confederacy. 

2. On the 1st day of January, 1863, the President issued one of the 
most important documents of modern times: The Emancipation 
Proclamation. The war had been begun with no well-defined inten¬ 
tion on the part of the government to free the slaves of the South. But 
the President and the Republican party looked with disfavor on the in¬ 
stitution of slavery; during the progress of the war the sentiment of 
abolition had grown with great rapidity in the North; and when at last 
it became a military necessity to strike a blow at the labor-system of the 
Southern States, the step was taken with but little hesitancy or oppo¬ 
sition. Thus, after an existence of two hundred and forty-four years, the 
institution of African slavery in the United States was swept away. 

3. The military movements of the new year began on the Mississippi. 
After his defeat at Chickasaw Bayou, General Sherman laid a plan for 
the capture of Arkansas Post, on the Arkansas River. In the first days 
of January an expedition set out for that purpose, the land-forces being 
commanded by General McClernand, and the flotilla by Admiral Porter. 
Entering the Arkansas, the Union forces reached their destination on the 
10th of the month, fought a hard battle with the Confederates, gained a 
victory, and on the next day received the surrender of the post with 
nearly five thousand prisoners. After this success the expedition returned 
to the vicinity of Vicksburg, in order to co-operate with General Grant 
in a second effort to capture that stronghold of the Confederacy. 

4. Again the Union forces were collected at Memphis, and embarked 
on the Mississippi. A landing was effected at the Yazoo; but the cap¬ 
ture of the city from that direction was decided to be impracticable. The 
first three months of the year were spent by General Grant in beating 
about the bayous, swamps and hills around Vicksburg, in the hope of 
getting a position in the rear of the town. A canal was cut across a 
bend in the river with a view to turning the channel of the Mississippi 
and opening a passage for the gunboats. But a flood in the river washed 
the works away, and the enterprise ended in failure. Then another 
canal was begun, only to be abandoned. Finally, in the first days of 
April, it was determined at all hazards to run the fleet past the Vicksburg 
batteries. Accordingly, on the night of the 16th, the boats were made 
ready and silently dropped down the river. All of a sudden the guns 
burst forth with terrible discharges of shot and shell, pelting the passing 


THE WORK OF ’ 63 . 


437 


steamers; but they went by with comparatively little damage, and found 
a safe position below the city. 

5. Elated with the successful pas¬ 
sage of his fleet, General Grant 
now marched his land-forces down 
the right bank of the Mississippi 
and formed a junction with the 
squadron. On the 30th of April 
he crossed the river at Bruinsburg, 
and on the following day fought 
and defeated the Confederates at 
Port Gibson. The evacuation of 
Grand Gulf, at the mouth of the 
Big Black River, followed imme¬ 
diately afterward. The Union army 
now swept around to the rear of 



VICKSBURG AND VICINITY, 1863. 

Vicksburg. On the morning of 


the 12th a strong Confederate force was encountered at Raymond, and 
after a severe engagement was repulsed. Pressing on toward Jackson, 
the capital of Mississippi, General Grant’s right wing, under Sherman and 
McPherson, met the advance of General Johnston’s division coming to 
reinforce the garrison of Vicksburg. Here, on the 14th of the month, 
a decisive battle was fought; the Confederates were beaten, and the city 
of Jackson captured. The communications of Vicksburg were now cut 
off*, and General Pemberton was obliged to repel the Federals or suffer a 
siege. Sallying forth with the greater part of his forces, he met the Union 
army on the 16th at Champion Hills, on Baker’s Creek. In the battle 
that followed, as well as in a conflict at the Black River Bridge on the 
17th, Grant was again victorious, and Pemberton retired with his dis¬ 
heartened troops within the defences of Vicksburg. 

6. The investment of the city was rapidly completed. Believing that 
the Confederate works could be carried by storm, General Grant, on the 
19th of May, ordered an assault, which resulted in a repulse with terrible 
losses. Three days afterward the attempt was renewed, but the assailants 
were again hurled back with a still greater destruction of life. The 
Union loss in these two unsuccessful assaults amounted to nearly three 
thousand men. Finding that Vicksburg could not be taken by storm, 
General Grant began a regular siege, and pressed it with ever-increasing 
severity. Admiral Porter got his gunboats into position and bombarded 
the unfortunate town incessantly. Reinforcements swelled the Union 
ranks. On the other hand, the garrison of the city was in a starving con¬ 
dition. Still, Pemberton held out for more than a month; and it was 






438 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


not until the 4tli of July that he was driven to surrender. By the act 
of capitulation the defenders of Vicksburg, numbering nearly thirty 
thousand, became prisoners of war. Thousands of small-arms, hundreds 
of cannon, vast quantities of ammunition and warlike stores were the 
fruits of this great Union victory, by which the national government 
gained more and the Confederacy lost more than in any previous struggle 
of the war. 

7. Meanwhile, General Banks, who had superseded General Butler in 
command of the department of the gulf, had been conducting a vigor¬ 
ous campaign on the Lower Mississippi. Early in January, from his 
headquarters at Baton Rouge, he advanced into Louisiana, reached Brash- 
ear City, and shortly afterward gained a victory over a Confederate force 
at a place called Bayou Teche. Returning to the Mississippi, he moved 
northward to Port Hudson, invested the place and began a siege. The 
beleaguered garrison, under General Gardner, made a brave defence; and 
it was not until the 8th of July, when the news of the fall of Vicksburg 
was borne to Port Hudson, that the commandant, with his force of more 
than six thousand men, was obliged to capitulate. By this important 
surrender the control of the Mississippi throughout its whole length was 
recovered by the National government. 

8. During the progress of the war cavalry raids became more and more 
frequent. Of this nature was Stonewall Jackson’s campaign down the 
Shenandoah valley in the summer of 1862. Later in the same year, just 
after the battle of Antietam, the Confederate General Stuart, with a troop 
of eighteen hundred cavalrymen, made a dash into Pennsylvania, reached 
Chambersburg, captured the town, made a complete circuit of the Army 
of the Potomac, and returned in safety to Virginia. Just before the in¬ 
vestment of Vicksburg, Colonel Benjamin Grierson, of the Sixth Illinois 
Cavalry, struck out with his command from La Grange, Tennessee, en¬ 
tered Mississippi, traversed the State to the east of Jackson, cut the rail¬ 
roads, destroyed property, and after a rapid course of more than eight 
hundred miles gained the river at Baton Rouge. By these raids the 
border country of both sections was kept in perpetual agitation and alarm.. 

9. For a while after the battle of Murfreesborough Rosecrans re¬ 
mained inactive. Late in the spring Colonel Streight’s command went 
on a raid into Georgia, met the division of the Confederate general 
Forrest, was surrounded and captured. In the latter part of June, Rose¬ 
crans by a series of flank movements succeeded in crowding General Bragg 
out of Tennessee into Georgia. The union general followed his antago¬ 
nist and took post at Chattanooga, on the left bank of the Tennessee. 
During the summer months General Bragg was heavily reinforced by 


THE WORK OF ’ 63 . 


439 


Johnston from Mississippi, and Longstreet from Virginia. On the 19th of 
September he turned upon the Federal army at Chickamauga Creek, in 
the north-west angle of Georgia. During this day a hard battle was fought, 
but night fell on the scene with the victory undecided. On the following 
morning the fight was renewed, the Confederates moving on in powerful 
masses, and the Federals holding their ground with unflinching courage. 
After the conflict had continued for some hours, the national battle-line 
was opened by General Wood, acting under mistaken orders. The Con¬ 
federate general, seeing his advantage, thrust forward a heavy column into 
the gap, cut the Union army in two, and drove the shattered right wing 
in utter rout from the field. General Thomas, with a desperate firmness 
hardly equaled in the annals of war, held the left until nightfall, and 
then, under cover of darkness, withdrew into Chattanooga, where the 
defeated army of Rosecrans had already found shelter. The Union 
losses in this dreadful battle amounted in killed, wounded and missing 
to nearly nineteen thousand, and the Confederate loss was even more ap¬ 
palling. 

10. General Bragg at once pressed forward to besiege Chattanooga. 
The Federal lines of communication were cut off, and for a while the 
army of Rosecrans was in danger of being annihilated. But General 
Hooker arrived with two corps from the Army of the Potomac, opened 
the Tennessee River, and brought relief to the besieged. At the same 
time General Grant, being promoted to the chief command of the 
Western armies, assumed the direction of affairs at Chattanooga. General 
Sherman also arrived with his division, so strengthening the Army of the 
Cumberland that offensive operations were at once renewed. On the 24th 
of November, Lookout Mountain, with its cloud-capped summit over¬ 
looking the town and river, was successfully stormed by the division of 
General Hooker. On the following day Bragg’s positions on Missionary 
Ridge were also carried, and his army fell back in full retreat toward 
Ringgold, Georgia. 

11. In the mean time, General Burnside was making an effort to hold 
East Tennessee. On the 1st of September he arrived with his command 
at Knoxville, where he was received by the people with lively satisfac¬ 
tion. After the battle of Chickamauga, General Longstreet was sent into 
East Tennessee to counteract the movements of the Unionists. On his 
march to Knoxville he overtook and captured several small detachments 
of Federal troops, then invested the town and began a siege. On the 
29th of November the Confederates made an attempt to carry Knoxville 
by storm, but were repulsed with heavy losses. After the retreat of Bragg 
flrom Chattanooga, General Sherman marched to the relief of Burnside; 


440 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


but before he could reach Knoxville, Longstreet raised the siege and re¬ 
treated into Virginia. 

12. In the early part of 1863 the Confederates, led by Generals Mar- 
maduke and Price, resumed activity in Arkansas and Southern Missouri. 
On the 8th of January they made an attack on Springfield, but were re¬ 
pulsed with considerable losses. Three days afterward, at the town of 
Hartsville, a battle was fought with a similar result. On the 26th of 
April, General Marmaduke attacked the post at Cape Girardeau, on the 
Mississippi, but the garrison succeeded in driving the Confederates away. 
On the day of the surrender of Vicksburg the Confederate general 
Holmes, with a force of nearly eight thousand men, made an attack 
on Helena, Arkansas, but was repulsed with a loss of one-fifth of his 
men. On the 13th of August the town of Lawrence, Kansas, was 
sacked and burned, and a hundred and forty persons killed by a band 
of desperate fellows led by a chieftain called Quantrell. On the 10th 
of September the Federal general Steele reached Little Rock, the 
capital of Arkansas, captured the city and restored the national authority 
in the State. 

13. To the summer of this year belongs the story of General John 
Morgan’s great raid through Kentucky into Indiana and Ohio. His 
starting-point was Sparta, Tennessee; the number of his forces three 
thousand. Pushing northward through Kentucky, he gathered strength, 
reached the Ohio at Brandenburg, crossed into Indiana, and began his 
march to the north and east. He was resisted at Corydon and other 
points by bodies of home-guards, and hotly pursued by a force under 
General Hobson. Morgan crossed into Ohio at Harrison, made a circuit 
to the north of Cincinnati, and attempted to recross the river. But the 
Ohio was now guarded by gunboats, and the raiders were driven back. 
With numbers constantly diminishing the Confederate leader pressed on, 
fighting and flying, until he came near the town of Kew Lisbon, where 
he was surrounded and captured by the brigade of General Shackelford. 
For nearly four months Morgan was held as a prisoner; then mak¬ 
ing his escape, he fled to Kentucky, and finally reached Richmond. 

14. The year 1863 was marked by some movements of importance on 
the sea-coast. On the 1st of January General Marmaduke, by a brilliant 
exploit, captured Galveston, Texas. By this means the Confederates se¬ 
cured a port of entry, of which they were greatly in need in the South¬ 
west. On the 7th of April Admiral Dupont, with a powerful fleet of iron¬ 
clads, made an attempt to capture Charleston, but the squadron was driven 
back much damaged. In the last days of June the siege of the city was 
begun anew by a strong land-force, under command of General Q. A. 


THE WORK OF ’ 63 . 


441 


Gill more, assisted by the fleet under Admiral Dahlgren. The Federal 
army first effected a lodgment on Folly Island, and soon afterward on 
the south end of Morris Island, where batteries were planted bearing upon 
Fort Sumter in the channel and Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg at the 
northern extremity of the island. After the bombardment had continued 
for some time, General Gillmore, on the 18th of July, made an attempt 
to carry Fort Wagner by assault, but was repulsed with a loss of more 
than fifteen hundred men. The siege then progressed until the night of 
the 6 th of September, when the Confederates evacuated the fort and Bat¬ 
tery Gregg, and retired to Charleston. Gillmore thus obtained a position 
within four miles of the city, and brought his guns to bear on the wharves 
and buildings of the lower town. Meanwhile, the walls of Fort Sumter 
on the side next to Morris Island had been pounded into powder by the 
land-batteries and guns of the monitors. The harbor and city, however, 
still remained under control of the Confederates, the only gain of the 
Federals being the establishment of a blockade so complete as to seal up 
the port of Charleston. 

15. During the spring and summer of 1863 the Army of the Potomac 
was engaged in several desperate conflicts. After his fatal repulse at 
Fredericksburg General Burnside was superseded by General Joseph 
Hooker, who, in the latter part of April, moved forward with his army in 
full force, crossed the Rappahannock and the Rapidan, and reached 
Chancellorsville. Here, on the evening of the 2d of May, he was at¬ 
tacked by the veteran Army of Northern Virginia, led by Lee and Jack- 
son. The latter general, with extraordinary daring, put himself at the 
head of a division of twenty-five thousand men, filed off from the battle¬ 
field, outflanked the Union army, burst like a thunder-cloud upon the 
right wing, and swept everything to destruction. But it was the last of 
Stone wall’s battles. As night came on, with ruin impending over the 
Federal army, the brave Confederate leader, riding through the gather¬ 
ing darkness, received a volley from his own lines , and fell mortally 
wounded. He lingered a week, and died at Guinea Station, leaving a 
gap in the Confederate ranks which no other man could fill. 

16. On the morning of the 3d the battle was furiously renewed. Gen¬ 
eral Sedgwick, attempting to reinforce Hooker from Fredericksburg, was 
defeated and driven across the Rappahannock. The main army was 
crowded between Chancellorsville and the river, where it remained in the 
utmost peril until the evening of the 5th, when General Hooker succeeded 
in withdrawing his forces to the northern bank. The Union losses in 
these terrible battles amounted in killed, wounded and prisoners to about 
seventeen thousand; that of the Confederates was less by five thousand. 


442 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Taken altogether, the campaign was the most disastrous of any in which 
the Federal army had yet been engaged. 

17. The defeat of General Hooker was to some extent mitigated by the 
successful cavalry raid of General Stoneman. On the 29th of April he 
crossed the Rappahannock with a body of ten thousand men, tore up the 
Virginia Central Railroad, dashed on to the Chickahominy, cut General 

Lee’s communications, 
swept around within 
a few miles of Rich¬ 
mond, and on the 8th 
of May recrossed the 
Rappahannock in 
safety. At the same 
time, General Peck, 
the Federal command¬ 
ant of Suffolk, on the 
Nansemond, was suc¬ 
cessfully resisting a 
siege conducted by 
General Longstreet. 
The Confederates re¬ 
treated from before the 
town on the very day 
of the Union disaster 
at Chancellorsville. 

18. Elated with his 
success on the Rappa¬ 
hannock, General Lee 
stonewall jackson.* determined to carry 

the war into Mary¬ 
land and Pennsylvania. In the first week of June he moved forward 
with his whole army, crossed the Potomac, and captured Hagerstown. 
On the 22d of June the invaders entered Chambersburg, and then 
pressed on through Carlisle to within a few miles of Harrisburg. 
The militia of Pennsylvania was called out, and volunteers came 
pouring in from other States. General Hooker, at the head of the 


*The true name of this remarkable man was Thomas Jonathan Jackson. In the be¬ 
ginning of the battle of Bull Run, when the Confederates in one part of the field were 
routed and flying, General Bee, pointing to an immovable column of men, cried out, 
“Here is Jackson, standing like a stone wall!” From that day the man at the head of 
that column was called Stonewall Jackson. 



THE WORK OF ’ 63 . 


443 


Army of the Potomac, pushed forward to strike his antagonist. It 
was evident that a great and decisive battle was at hand. General Lee, 
abandoning his purpose of invasion, rapidly concentrated his forces 
near Gettysburg, the capital of Adams county, Pennsylvania. On the 
very eve of battle the command of the Union army was transferred 
from General Hooker to General George G. Meade, who hastened to take 
up a strong position on the hills around Gettysburg. Here the two ar¬ 
mies, each numbering about eighty thousand men, were brought face to 
face. On the 1st of July the fearful struggle began, and for three days 
the conflict raged. The battle reached its climax on the afternoon of the 
3d, when a Confederate column, nearly three miles long, headed by the 
Virginians, under General Pickett, made a final and desperate charge on 
the Union centre. But the onset was in vain, and the brave men who 
made it were mowed down with terrible slaughter. The victory remained 
with the national army, and Lee was obliged to turn back with his shat¬ 
tered legions to the Potomac. The entire Confederate loss in this the 
greatest battle of the war was nearly thirty thousand; that of the Fede- 
rals in killed, wounded and missing, twenty-three thousand a hundred 
and eighty-six. General Lee withdrew his forces into Virginia, and the 
Union army resumed its old position on the Potomac and the Rappahan¬ 
nock. Such were the more important military movements of 1863. 

19. During this year the administration of President Lincoln was beset 
with many difficulties. The war-debt of the nation was piling up moun¬ 
tains high. The last calls for volunteers had not been fully met. The 
anti-war party of the North had grown more bold, and openly denounced 
the measures of the government. On the 3d of March the Conscrip¬ 
tion Act was passed by Congress, and two months afterward the Presi¬ 
dent ordered a general draft of three hundred thousand men. All able- 
bodied citizens between the ages of twenty and forty-five years were 
subject to the requisition. The measure was bitterly denounced by the 
opponents of the war, and in many places the draft-officers were forcibly 
resisted. On the 13th of July, in the city of New York, a vast mob rose 
in arms, demolished the buildings which were occupied by the provost 
marshals, burned the colored orphan asylum, attacked the police, and 
killed about a hundred people, most of whom were negroes., For three 
days the authorities of the city were set at defiance; but a large force of 
regulars and volunteers gathered at the scene, and the riot was suppressed 
with a strong hand. After the fall of Vicksburg and the retreat of Lee 
from Pennsylvania, there were fewer acts of domestic violence. 

20. As a means of procuring soldiers the draft amounted to nothing; 
only about fifty thousand men were thus directly obtained. But volun- 


444 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


teering was greatly quickened by the measure, and the employment ol 
substitutes soon filled the ranks of the army. Such, however, were the 
terrible losses by battle and disease and the expiration of enlistments 
that in October the President issued another call for three hundred thou¬ 
sand men. At the same time it was provided that any delinquency in 
meeting the demand would be supplied by a draft in the following Janu¬ 
ary. By these active measures the columns of the Union army were made 
more powerful than ever. In the armies of the South, on the other hand, 
there were already symptoms of exhaustion, and the most rigorous con¬ 
scription was necessary to fill the thinned but still courageous ranks of 
the Confederacy. It was on the 20th of June in this year that West Vir¬ 
ginia, separated from the Old Dominion, was organized and admitted as 
the thirty-fifth State of the Union. 


CHAPTER XXI. 

THE CLOSING CONFLICTS. 

A S in the previous year, the military movements of 1864 began in the 
West. In the beginning of February General Sherman left Vicks¬ 
burg with the purpose of destroying the railroad connections of Eastern 
Mississippi. Marching toward Alabama, he reached Meridian on the 
15th of the month. Here, where the railroad from Mobile to Corinth 
intersects the line from Vicksburg to Montgomery, the tracks were torn 
up for a distance of a hundred and fifty miles. Bridges were burned, 
locomotives and cars destroyed, vast quantities of cotton and corn eiven 
to the flames. At Meridian General Sherman expected the arrival of a 
strong force of Federal cavalry which had been sent out from Memphis, 
under command of General Smith. The latter advanced into Mississippi, 
but was met, a hundred miles north of Meridian, by the cavalry of For¬ 
rest, and driven back to Memphis. Disappointed of the expected junc¬ 
tion of his forces, General Sherman retraced his course to Vicksburg. 
Forrest continued his raid northward, entered Tennessee, and on the 24th 
of March captured Union City. Pressing on, he reached Paducah, Ken¬ 
tucky, made an assault on Fort Anderson, in the suburbs of the town, but 
was repulsed with a loss of three hundred men. Turning back into Ten¬ 
nessee, he came upon Fort Pillow, on the Mississippi, seventy miles 
above Memphis. The place was defended by five hundred and sixty 



THE CLOSING CONFLICTS. 


445 


soldiers, about half of whom were negroes. Forrest, having gained 
the outer defences, demanded a surrender, but was refused. He 
then ordered an assault, and carried the fort by storm. 

2. To the spring of 1864 belongs the story of the Red River Expe¬ 
dition, conducted by General Banks. The object had in view was the 
Capture of Shreveport, the seat of the Confederate government of Louisi¬ 
ana. A strong land-force was to march up Red River, supported by a 
fleet of gunboats, under command of Admiral Porter. The army was 
composed of three divisions: the first, from Vicksburg, numbering ten 
thousand, commanded by General Smith; the second, from New Orleans, 
led by General Banks in person; the third, from Little Rock, under com¬ 
mand of General Steele. In the beginning of March Smith’s division 
moved forward to Red River, and was joined by Porter with the fleet. 
On the 14th of the same month the advance reached Fort de Russy, 
which was taken by assault. The Confederates retreated up the river to 
Alexandria, and on the 16th that city was occupied by the Federals. 
Three days afterward Natchitoches was captured; but here the road 
turned from the river, and further co-operation between the gunboats 
and the army was impossible. The flotilla proceeded up stream toward 
Shreveport, and the land-forces whirled off in a circuit to the left. 

3. On the 8th of April, when the advanced brigades were approach¬ 
ing the town of Mansfield, they were suddenly attacked by the Confede¬ 
rates in full force and advantageously posted. After a short and bloody 
engagement, the Federals were completely routed. The victors made a 
vigorous pursuit as far as Pleasant Hill, where they were met on the 
next day by the main body of the Union army. The battle was renewed 
with great spirit, and the Federals were barely saved from ruin by the 
hard fighting of the division of General Smith, who covered the retreat 
to the river. Nearly three thousand men, twenty pieces of artillery and 
the supply-trains of the Federal army were lost in these disastrous bat¬ 
tles. With great difficulty the flotilla descended the river from the direc¬ 
tion of Shreveport; for the Confederates had now planted batteries on the 
hanks. When the Federals had retreated as far as Alexandria, they were 
again brought to a standstill; the river had fallen to so low a stage that 
the gunboats could not pass the rapids. The squadron was finally saved 
from its peril by the skill of Colonel Bailey of Wisconsin, who constructed 
a dam across the river, raising the water so that the vessels could be 
floated over. The whole expedition returned as rapidly as possible to 
the Mississippi. General Steele had, in the mean time, made an advance 
from Little Rock to aid in the reduction of Shreveport; but learning of 
the Federal defeats, he withdrew after several severe engagements. To the 


446 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


national government the Red River expedition was a source of much 
shame and mortification. General Banks was relieved of his command, 
and General Canby was appointed to succeed him. 

4. On the 2d of March, 1864, General Grant was appointed com¬ 
mander-in-chief of all the armies of the United States. The high grade 
of lieutenant-general was revived by act of Congress, and conferred upon 
him. No less than seven hundred thousand Union soldiers were now to 
move at his command. The first month after his appointment was spent 
in planning the great campaigns of the year. These were two in num¬ 
ber. The Army of the Potomac, under command of Meade and the gen¬ 
eral-in-chief, was to ad¬ 
vance upon Richmond, 
still defended by the 
Army of Northern Vir¬ 
ginia, under Lee. Gen¬ 
eral Sherman, command¬ 
ing the army at Chatta¬ 
nooga, now numbering 
a hundred thousand men, 
was to march against 
Atlanta, which was de¬ 
fended by the Confed¬ 
erates, under General 
Johnston. To these two 

great movements all other military operations were to be subordinate. 

5. On the 7th of May General Sherman moved forward from Chatta¬ 
nooga. At Dalton he was confronted by the Confederate army, sixty thou¬ 
sand strong. After some manoeuvring and fighting, he succeeded in turning 
Johnston's flank, and obliged him to fall back to Resaca. After two hard 
battles on the 14th and 15th of May, this place was also carried, and the 
Confederates retreated by way of Calhoun and Kingston to Dallas. 
Here, on the 28th, Johnston made a second stand, entrenched himself 
and fought, but was again outnumbered, outflanked, and compelled to 
fall back to Lost Mountain. From this position he was forced on the 
17th of June, after three days of desultory fighting. The next stand of 
the Confederates was made on the Great and Little Ivenesaw Mountains. 
From this line on the 22d of June the division of General Hood made a 
fierce attack upon the Union centre, but was repulsed with heavy losses. 
Five days afterward General Sherman attempted to carry the Great Ken- 
esaw by storm. The assault was made with great audacity, but ended in 
a dreadful repulse and a loss of three thousand men. Sherman, undis- 



SHERMANS CAMPAIGN, 1864 . 






THE CLOSING CONFLICTS. 


447 


mayed by his reverse, resumed his former tactics, outflanked his antago¬ 
nist, and on the 3d of July compelled him to retreat across the Chatta¬ 
hoochee. By the 10th of the month the whole Confederate army had 
retired within the defences of Atlanta. 

6. This stronghold of the Confederacy was at once besieged. Here 
were the great machine- Jiops, foundries, car-works and depots of supplies 
upon the possession of which so much depended. At the very beginning 
of the siege the cautious and skillful General Johnston was superseded by 
the rash but daring General J. B. Hood. It was the policy of the latter 
to fight at whatever hazard. On the 20th, 22d and 28th of July he made 
three desperate assaults on the Union lines around Atlanta, but was re¬ 
pulsed with dreadful losses in each engagement. It was in the beginning 
of the second of these battles that the brave General James B. McPherson, 
the pride of the Union army, was killed while reconnoitring the Con¬ 
federate lines. In the three conflicts the Confederates lost more men 
than Johnston had lost in all his masterly retreating and fighting between 
Chattanooga and Atlanta. For more than a month the siege was pressed 
with great vigor. At last, by an incautious movement, Hood separated 
his army; Sherman thrust a column between the two divisions; and the 
immediate evacuation of Atlanta followed. On the 2d of September the 
Union army marched into the captured city. Since leaving Chattanooga 
General Sherman had lost fully thirty thousand men ; and the Confederate 
losses were even greater. 

7. By retiring from Atlanta Hood saved his army. It was now his 
policy to strike northward into Tennessee, and thus compel Sherman to 
evacuate Georgia. But the latter had no notion of losing his vantage- 
ground ; and after following Hood north of the Chattahoochee, he turned 
back to Atlanta. The Confederate general now swept up through Northern 
Alabama, crossed the Tennessee at Florence and advanced on Nashville. 
Meanwhile, General Thomas, with the Army of the Cumberland, had 
been detached from Sherman’s army at Atlanta and sent northward to 
confront Hood in Tennessee. General Schofield, who commanded the 
Federal forces in the southern part of the State, fell back before the Con¬ 
federates and took post at Franklin, eighteen miles south of Nashville. 
Here, on the 30th of November, he was attacked by Hood’s legions, and 
after a hard-fought battle held them in check till nightfall, when he 
escaped across the river and retreated within the defences of Nashville. 
At this place all of General Thomas’s forces were rapidly concentrated. 
A line of entrenchments was drawn around the city on the south. Hood 
came on, confident of victory, and prepared to begin the siege by block¬ 
ading the Cumberland; but before the work was fairly begun, General 

29 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


4(8 



Thomas, on the 15th of December, moved from his works, fell upon the 
Confederate army, and routed it with a loss, in killed, wounded and 

prisoners, of more than 
twenty-five thousand 
men. For many days 
of freezing weather 
Hood’s shattered col¬ 
umns were pursued, 
until at last they found 
refuge in Alabama. 
The Confederate army 
was ruined, and the 
rash general who had 
led it to destruction 
was relieved of his 
command. 

8. On the 14th of 
November General 
Sherman burned At¬ 
lanta and began his 
famous March to 
the Sea. His army 
of veterans numbered 
sixty thousand men. 
general thomas. Believing that Hood’s 

army would be de¬ 
stroyed in Tennessee, and knowing that no Confederate force could with¬ 
stand him in front, he cut his communications with the North, abandoned 
his base of supplies, and struck out boldly for the sea-coast, more than 
two hundred and fifty miles away. As had been foreseen, the Confed¬ 
erates could offer no successful resistance. The Union army swept on 
through Macon and Milledgeville ; reached the Ogeechee and crossed in 
safety; captured Gibson and Waynesborough; and on the 10th of De¬ 
cember arrived in the vicinity of Savannah. On the 13th Fort McAllister, 
below the city, was carried by storm by the division of General Hazen. 
On the night of the 20th General Hardee, the Confederate commandant, 
escaped from Savannah with fifteen thousand men and retreated to 
Charleston. On the following morning the national advance entered, 
and on the 22d General Sherman made his headquarters in the city. On 
his march from Atlanta he had lost only five hundred and sixty-seven men. 

9. The month of January, 1865, was spent by the Union army at 


THE CLOSING CONFLICTS. 


449 



Savannah. On the 1st of February General Sherman, having garrisoned 
the city, began his march against Columbia, the capital of South Carolina. 
At the various rivers 
his advance was feebly 
opposed; but the Con¬ 
federates had no suffi¬ 
cient force to stay his 
progress. On the 17th 
of the month Colum¬ 
bia was surrendered 
without serious resist¬ 
ance. On the same 
night General Hardee, 
having destroyed all 
the public property 
of Charleston and 
kindled fires which 
laid four squares in 
ashes, evacuated the 
city; and on the fol¬ 
lowing morning the 
national forces entered 
from James’s Island. 

From Columbia Gen¬ 
eral Sherman directed general sherman. 

his course into North 

Carolina, and on the 11th of March captured Fayetteville. 

10. General Johnston had now been recalled to the command of the 
Confederate forces, and the advance of the Union army began to be 
seriously opposed. At Averasborough, on Cape Fear River, a short dis¬ 
tance north of Fayetteville, General Hardee made a stand, but was repulsed 
with considerable loss. When, on the 19th of March, General Sherman 
was incautiously approaching Bentonsville, he was suddenly attacked by 
the ever-vigilant Johnston, and for a while the Union army, after all its 
marches and victories, was in danger of destruction. But the tremendous 
fighting of General Jefferson C. Davis’s division saved the day, and on the 
21st Sherman entered Goldsborough unopposed. Here he was reinforced 
by a strong column from Newbern under General Schofield, and another 
from Wilmington commanded by General Terry. The Federal army 
now turned to the north-west, and on the 13th of April entered Raleigh. 
This was the end of the great march; and here, thirteen days after 


450 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


his arrival, General Sherman received the surrender of Johnston’s 
army. 

11. Meanwhile, important events had occurred on the gulf and the 
Atlantic coast. In the beginning of August, 1864, Admiral Farragut 
bore down with a powerful squadron upon the defences of Mobile. The 
entrance to the harbor of this city was commanded on the left by Fort 
Gaines, and on the right by Fort Morgan. The harbor itself was de¬ 
fended by a Confederate fleet and the monster iron-clad ram Tennessee . 

On the 5th of August 
Farragut prepared for 
battle and ran past the 
forts into the harbor. 
In order to direct the 
movements of his ves¬ 
sels, the brave old ad¬ 
miral mounted to the 
maintop of his flag¬ 
ship, the Hartford, 
lashed himself to the 
rigging, and from that 
high perch gave his 
commands during the 
battle. One of the 
Union ships struck a 
torpedo and went to 
the bottom. The rest 
attacked and dispersed 
the Confederate squad¬ 
ron ; but just as the 
bay seemed won the 
admiral farragut. terrible Tennessee came 

down at full speed to 

strike and sink the Hartford. The latter avoided the blow; and then 
followed one of the fiercest conflicts of the war. The Union iron-clads 
closed around their black antagonist and battered her with their beaks 
and fifteen-inch bolts of iron until she surrendered. Two days afterward 
Fort Gaines was taken; and on the 23d of the month Fort Morgan was 
obliged to capitulate. The port of Mobile was effectually sealed up. 

12. Not less important to the Union cause was the capture of Fort 
Fisher. This powerful fortress commanded the entrance to Cape Fear 
River and Wilmington—the last sea-port held by the Confederates. In 



THE CLOSING CONFLICTS. 


451 


December Admiral Porter was sent with the most powerful American 
squadron ever afloat to besiege and take the fort. General Butler, with 
a land-force of six thousand five hundred men, accompanied the expedi¬ 
tion, On the 24th of the month the bombardment began, and the troops 
were sent ashore with orders to carry the works by storm. When Gen¬ 
eral Weitzel, who led the column, came near enough to the fort to recon¬ 
noitre, he decided that an assault could only end with the destruction of 
his army. General Butler held the same opinion, and the enterprise was 
abandoned. Admiral Porter remained before Fort Fisher with his fleet, 
and General Butler returned with the land-forces to Fortress Monroe. 
Early in January the same troops were sent back to Wilmington, under 
command of General Terry. The siege was at once renewed by the army 
and the fleet, and on the 15th of the month Fort Fisher was taken by 
storm. 

13. In the previous October the control of Albemarle Sound had been 
secured by a daring exploit of Lieutenant Cushing of the Federal navy. 
These waters were commanded by a tremendous iron ram called the Albe¬ 
marle. s In order to destroy the dreaded vessel a number of daring volun¬ 
teers, led bv Cushing, embarked in a small steamer, and on the night of 
the 27th of October entered the Roanoke. The ram was discovered lying 
at the harbor of Plymouth. Cautiously approaching, the lieutenant with 
his own hands sank a terrible torpedo under the Confederate ship, ex¬ 
ploded it, and left the ram a ruin. The adventure cost the lives or cap¬ 
ture of all of Cushing’s party except himself and one other, who escaped. 
A few days afterward the town of Plymouth was taken by the Federals. 

14. During the progress of the war the commerce of the United States 
had suffered dreadfully from the attacks of Confederate cruisers. As 
early as 1861 the Southern Congress had granted commissions to priva¬ 
teers ; but neutral nations would not allow such vessels to bring prizes 
into their ports, and the Privateering Act was of little direct benefit to 
the Confederacy. But the commerce of the United States was greatly 
injured. The first Confederate ship sent out was the Savannah , which 
was captured on the same day that she escaped from Charleston. In June 
of 1861 the Sumter , commanded by Captain Semmes, ran the blockade at 
New Orleans, and for seven months did fearful work with the Union 
merchantmen. But in February of 1862 Semmes was chased into the 
harbor of Gibraltar, where he was obliged to sell his vessel and discharge 
his crew. In the previous October the Nashville ran out from Charles¬ 
ton, went to England, and returned with a cargo worth three millions of 
dollars. In March of 1863 she was sunk by a Union iron-clad in the 
mouth of the Savannah River. 


452 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


15. The ports of the Southern States were now so closely blockaded 
that war-vessels could no longer be sent abroad. In this emergency the 
Confederates turned to the ship-yards of Great Britain, and from that 
vantage-ground began to build and equip their cruisers. In spite of the 
remonstrances of the United States, the British government connived at 
this proceeding; and here was laid the foundation of a difficulty which 
afterward cost the treasury of England fifteen millions of dollars. In the 
harbor of Liverpool the Florida was fitted out; and going to sea in the 
summer of 1862, she succeeded in running into Mobile Bay. Escaping 
in the following January, she destroyed fifteen merchantmen, was cap¬ 
tured in the harbor of Bahia, Brazil, and brought into Hampton Hoads, 
where an accidental collision sent her to the bottom. The Georgia, the 
Olustee, the Shenandoah and the Chickamauga, all built at the ship-yards 
of Glasgow, Scotland, escaped to sea and made great havoc with the mer¬ 
chant-ships of the United States. At the capture of Fort Fisher the 
Chickamauga and another cruiser called the Tallahassee were blown up 
by the Confederates. The Georgia was captured in 1863, and the Shen¬ 
andoah continued abroad until the close of the war. 

16. Most destructive of all the Confederate vessels was the famous 
Alabama, built at Liverpool. Her commander was Captain Raphael 
Semmes, the same who had cruised in the Sumter. A majority of the 
crew of the Alabama were British subjects; her armament was entirely 
British; and whenever occasion required, the British flag was carried. 
In her whole career, involving the destruction of sixty-six vessels and a 
loss of ten million dollars to the merchant service of the United States, 
she never entered a Confederate port, but continued abroad, capturing 
and burning. Early in the summer of 1864 Semmes entered the harbor 
of Cherbourg, France, and was there discovered by Captain Winslow, 
commander of the steamer Kearsarge. The French government gave the 
Confederate captain orders to leave the port, and on the 19th of June he 
went out to give his antagonist battle. Seven miles from the shore the 
two ships closed for the death-struggle; and after a desperate battle of an 
hour’s duration, the Alabama was shattered and sunk. Semmes and a 
part of his officers and crew were picked up by the English yacht Deer¬ 
hound and carried to Southampton. 

17. The great campaign of the Army of the Potomac, under Grant 
and Meade, has been reserved for the closing narrative of the war. On 
the night of the 3d of May, 1864, the national camp at Culpepper was 
broken up, and the march on Richmond was begun. In three successive 
summers the Union army had been beaten back from that metropolis of 
the Confederacy. Now a hundred and forty thousand men, led by the 


THE CLOSING CONFLICTS. 


453 



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lieutenant-general, were to begin the final struggle with the veterans of 
Lee. On the first day of the advance Grant crossed the Rapidan and 
entered the Wilderness, a country of oak woods and thickets west of 
Chancellorsville. He was immediately confronted and attacked by the 
Confederate army. During the 5th, 6th and 7th of the month the fight¬ 
ing continued incessantly with terrible losses on both sides; but the results 
were indecisive. Lee retired within his entrenchments, and Grant made 
a flank movement to the left in the direction of Spottsylvania Court¬ 
house. Here followed, from the morning of the 9th till the night of the 
12th, one of the bloodiest struggles of the war. The Federals gained 
some ground and captured the division of General Stewart; but the losses 
of Lee, who fought on the defensive, were less dreadful than those of his 
antagonist. 

18. After the battle of Spott¬ 
sylvania, Grant again moved to 
the left, crossed the Pamunkey 
at Hanovertown, and came to 
a place called Cold Harbor, 
twelve miles north-east of 
Richmond. Here, on the 1st 
of June, he attacked the Con¬ 
federates, strongly posted, but 
was repulsed with heavy losses. 

On the morning of the 3d the 
assault was renewed, and in the 
brief space of half an hour 
nearly ten thousand Union sol¬ 
diers fell dead or wounded be¬ 
fore the Confederate entrench¬ 
ments. The repulse of the 
Federals was complete, but they 
held their lines as firmly as 
ever. Since the beginning of 
the campaign the losses of the 
Army of the Potomac, includ¬ 
ing the corps of Burnside, had reached the enormous aggregate of sixty 
thousand. During the same period the Confederates had lost in killed, 
wounded and prisoners about thirty-five thousand men. 

19. General Grant now changed his base to James River with a view 
to the capture of Petersburg and the conquest of Richmond from the 
south-east. General Butler had already moved with a strong division 


OPERATIONS IN VIRGINIA, ’64 AND ’ 65 . 





454 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


from Fortress Monroe, and on the 5th of May had taken Bermuda Hun¬ 
dred and City Point, at the mouth of the Appomattox. Advancing 
against Petersburg, he was met on the 16th by the corps of General 
Beauregard and driven back to his position at Bermuda Hundred, where 
he was obliged to entrench himself and act on the defensive. Here, on 
the 15th of June, he was joined by General Grant’s whole army, and the 
combined forces moved against Petersburg. On the 17th and 18th sev¬ 
eral assaults were made on the Confederate entrenchments, but the works 
could not be carried. Lee’s army was hurried within the defences, and 
in the latter part of June Petersburg was regularly besieged. 

20. Meanwhile, movements of great importance were taking place in 
the Shenandoah valley. When General Grant moved forward from the 
Rapidan, he sent General Sigel up the valley with a force of eight thou¬ 
sand men. While the latter was advancing southward he was met at 
New Market, fifty miles above Winchester, by an army of Confederate 
cavalry, under General Breckinridge. On the 15th of May Sigel was 
attacked and routed, and the command of his flying forces was transferred 
to General Hunter. Deeming the valley cleared, Breckinridge returned 
to Richmond, whereupon Hunter faced about, marched toward Lynchburg,, 
came upon the Confederates at Piedmont, and gained a signal victory. 
From this place he advanced with his own forces and the cavalry troops 
of General Averill against Lynchburg; 'but finding that he had run into 
peril, he was obliged to retreat across the mountains into West Virginia. 
By this movement the valley of the Shenandoah was again exposed to an 
invasion by the Confederates. 

21. In the hope of compelling Grant to raise the siege of Petersburg, 
Lee immediately despatched General Early with orders to cross the Blue 
Ridge, sweep down the valley, invade Maryland and threaten Washing¬ 
ton city. With a force of twenty thousand men Early began his move¬ 
ment northward, and on the 5th of July crossed the Potomac. On the 
9th he met the division of General Wallace on the Monocacy, and de¬ 
feated him with serious losses. But the check given to the Confederates 
by the battle saved Washington and Baltimore from capture. After 
dashing up within gunshot of these cities, Early ordered a retreat, and 
on the 12th his forces recrossed the Potomac with vast quantities of 
plunder. 

22. General Wright, who was sent in pursuit of Early’s army, fol¬ 
lowed him as far as Winchester, and there, on the 24th of July, defeated 
a portion of his forces. But Early wheeled upon his antagonist, and the 
Union troops were in turn driven across the Potomac. Following up his 
advantage, the Confederate general next invaded Pennsylvania, burned 


THE CLOSING CONFLICTS. 


455 


Chambersburg, and returned into the valley laden with spoils. Seeing 
the necessity of putting an end to these devastating raids, General Grant 
in the beginning of August appointed General Philip H. Sheridan to the 
command of the consolidated army on the Upper Potomac. The troops 
thus placed at Sheridan’s disposal numbered nearly forty thousand, and 
with these he at once moved up the valley. On the 19th of September 
he came upon Early’s army at Winchester, attacked and routed him in a 
hard-fought battle. On the 22d he overtook the defeated army at Fish¬ 
er’s Hill, assaulted Early in his entrenchments, and gained another com¬ 
plete victory. 

23. In accordance with orders given by the commander-in-chief, Sher¬ 
idan now turned about to ravage the valley. The ruinous work was fear¬ 
fully well done; and what with torch and axe and sword, there was noth¬ 
ing left between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies worth fighting for. 
Maddened by this destruction and stung by his defeats, the veteran Early 
rallied his shattered forces, gathered reinforcements, and again entered 
the valley. Sheridan had posted his army in a strong position on Cedar 
Creek, a short distance from Strasburg, and feeling secure, had gone to 
Washington. On the morning of the 19th of October Early cautiously 
approached the Union camp, surprised it, burst in, carried the position, 
captured the artillery, and sent the routed troops flying in confusion to¬ 
ward Winchester. The Confederates pursued as far as Middletown, and 
there, believing the victory complete, paused to eat and rest. On the 
previous night Sheridan had returned to Winchester, and was now com¬ 
ing to rejoin his army. On his way he heard the sound of battle, rode 
twelve miles at full speed, met the panic-struck fugitives, rallied them 
with a word, turned upon the astonished Confederates, and gained one 
of the most signal victories of the war. Early’s army was disorganized 
and ruined. Such was the end of the strife in the valley of the Shenan¬ 
doah. 

24. All fall and winter long, General Grant pressed the siege of Peters¬ 
burg with varying success. On the 30th of July a mine was exploded 
under one of the forts. An assaulting column sprang forward to carry 
the works, gained some of the defences, but was finally repulsed with 
heavy losses. On the 18th of August a division of the Union army 
seized the Weldon Railroad and held it against several desperate assaults, 
in which each army lost thousands of men. On the 28th of September 
Battery Harrison, on the right bank of the James, was stormed by the 
Federals, and on the next day General Paine’s brigade of colored soldiers 
carried a powerful redoubt on Spring Hill. On the 27th of October 


456 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


there was a hard-fought battle on the Boydton road, south of Petersburg; 
and then the army went into quarters for the winter. 

25. Late in February the struggle began anew. On the 27th of the 
month General Sheridan, who had moved from the Shenandoah, gained a 
victory over the forces of General Early at Waynesborough, and then joined 
the commander-in-chief at Petersburg. On the 1st of April a severe 
battle was fought at Five Forks, on the Southside Railroad, in which the 
Confederates were defeated with a loss of six thousand prisoners. On 
the next day Grant ordered a general assault on the lines of Petersburg, 
and the works were carried. On that night the army of General Lee and 
the members of the Confederate government fled from Richmond; and on 
the following morning that city, as well as Petersburg, was entered by the 
Federal army. The warehouses of the ill-fated Confederate capital were 
fired by the retreating soldiers, and the better part of the city was reduced 
to ruins. 

26. The strife lasted but a few days longer. General Lee retreated as 
rapidly as possible to the south-west, hoping to join the army of General 
Johnston from Carolina. Once, at Deatonsville, the Confederates turned 
and fought with desperation, but were defeated with great losses. For 
five days the retreat and pursuit were kept up, and then the great general, 
who had done his best to save the falling Confederacy, was brought to 
bay with the broken remnants of his army at Appomattox Court-house. 
There, on the 9th of April, 1865, the work was done. General Lee sur¬ 
rendered the Army of Northern Virginia, and the military power of the 
Confederate States was hopelessly broken. General Grant signalized the 
end of the strife by granting to his conquered antagonist the most liberal 
and magnanimous terms. How the army of General Johnston was sur¬ 
rendered a few days later has already been narrated. After four dreadful 
years of bloodshed, devastation and sorrow, the civil war in the 
United States was at an end. 

27. The Federal authority was rapidly extended over the Southern 
States. After the surrender of Lee and Johnston, there was no further 
hope of reorganizing the Confederacy. Mr. Davis'and his cabinet escaped 
to Danville, and there for a few days kept up the forms of government. 
From that place they fled into North Carolina and were scattered. The 
ex-President with a few friends continued his flight through South Caro¬ 
lina into Georgia, and encamped near the village of Irwinsville, where, on 
the 10th of May, he was captured by General Wilson’s cavalry. He was 
conveyed as a prisoner to Fortress Monroe, and kept in confinement until 
May of 1867, when he was taken to Richmond to be tried on a charge of 


THE CLOSING CONFLICTS. 


457 


treason. He was admitted to bail; and his cause, after remaining untried 
for a year and a half, was finally dismissed. 

28. At the presidential election in the autumn preceding the downfall 
of the Confederacy, Mr. Lincoln was chosen for a second term. As Vice- 
President, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee was elected in place of Mr. 
Hamlin. The opposing candidates, supported by the Democratic party, 
were General George B. McClellan and George H. Pendleton of Ohio. 
Mr. Lincoln’s majority was very heavy, General McClellan carrying only 
the States of Kentucky, Delaware and New Jersey. In the summer pre¬ 
ceding the election the people of Nevada framed a constitution, in accord¬ 
ance with an act of Congress, and on the31stof October the new common¬ 
wealth was proclaimed as the thirty-sixth State of the Union. The gold 
and silver mines of Nevada were developed with such rapidity that they 
soon surpassed those of California in their yield of the precious metals. 

29. At the outbreak of the civil war the financial credit of the United 
States had sunk to a very low ebb. By the organization of the army and 
navy the expenses of the government were at once swelled to an enormous 
aggregate. The price of gold and silver advanced so rapidly that the 
redemption of bank-notes in coin soon became impossible; and on the 
30th of December, 1861, the banks of New York, and afterward those of 
the whole country, suspended specie payments. Mr. Chase, the secretary 
of the treasury, first sought relief by issuing Treasury Notes, receivable 
as money and bearing seven and three-tenths per cent, interest. This 
expedient was temporarily successful, but by the beginning of 1862 the 
expenses of the government had risen to more than a million of dollars 
daily. 

30. To meet these tremendous demands other measures had to be 
adopted. Congress accordingly made haste to provide an Internal 
Revenue. This was made up from two general sources: first, a tax on 
manufactures , incomes and salaries; second, a stamp-duty on all legal 
documents. The next measure was the issuance by the treasury of a 
hundred and fifty millons of dollars in non-interest-bearing Legal 
Tender Notes of the United States, to be used as money. These are 
the notes called Greenbacks. The third great measure adopted by the 
government was the sale of United States Bonds. These were made 
redeemable at any time after five and under twenty years from date, and 
were from that fact called Five-Twenties. The interest upon them was 
fixed at six per cent., payable semi-annually in gold. Another important 
series of bonds, called Ten-Forties , was afterward issued, being redeem¬ 
able by the government at any time between ten and forty years from 
date. In the next place, Congress passed an act providing for the estab- 


458 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


lishment of National Banks. The private banks of the country had 
been obliged to suspend operations, and the people were greatly distressed 
for want of money. To meet this demand it was provided that new 
banks might be established, using national bonds, instead of gold and 
silver, as a basis of their circulation. The currency of these banks was 
furnished and the redemption of the same guaranteed by the treasury of 
the United States. By these measures the means for prosecuting the war 
were provided. At the end of the conflict the national debt had reached 
the astounding sum of nearly three thousand millions of dollars. 

31. On the 4th of March, 1865, President Lincoln was inaugurated for 
his second term. A month afterward the military power of the Confed¬ 
eracy was broken. Three days after the evacuation of Richmond by Lee’s 
army the President visited that city, conferred with the authorities, and then 
returned to Washington. On the evening of the 14th of April he attended 
Ford’s theatre with his wife and a party of friends. As the play drew near 
its close a disreputable actor, named John Wilkes Booth, stole unnoticed 
into the President’s box, leveled a pistol at his head, and shot him through 
the brain. Mr. Lincoln fell forward in his seat, was borne from the 
building, lingered in an unconscious state until the following morning, and 
died. It was the greatest tragedy of modern times—the most wicked^ 
atrocious and diabolical murder known in American history. The assassin 
leaped out of the box upon the stage, escaped into the darkness, and fled. 
At the same hour another murderer, named Lewis Payne Powell, burst 
into the bed-chamber of Secretary Seward, sprang upon the couch of the 
sick man, stabbed him nigh unto death, and made his escape into the 
night. The city was wild with alarm and excitement. It was clear that 
a plot had been made to assassinate the leading members of the govern¬ 
ment. Troops of cavalry and the police of Washington departed in all 
directions to hunt down the conspirators. On the 26th of April Booth 
was found concealed in a barn south of Fredericksburg. Refusing to 
surrender, he was shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett, and then dragged 
forth from the burning building to die. Powell was caught, convicted 
and hanged. His fellow-conspirators, David E. Herrold and Geo. A. 
Atzerott, together with Mrs. Mary E. Surratt, at whose house the plot 
was formed, were also condemned and executed. Michael O’Laugh- 
lin, Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, and Samuel Arnold were sentenced to im¬ 
prisonment for life, and Edward Spangler for a term of six years. 

32. So ended in darkness, but not in shame, the career of Abraham 
Lincoln. He was one of the most remarkable men of any age or country 
—a man in whom the qualities of genius and common sense were strangely 
mingled. He was prudent, far-sighted and resolute; thoughtful, calm 


JOHNSON’S ADMINISTRATION. 


459 


and jusc; patient, tender-hearted and great. The manner of his death 
consecrated his memory. From city to city, in one vast funeral proces¬ 
sion, the mourning people followed his remains to their last resting-place 
at Springfield. From all nations rose the voice of sympathy and shame 
—sympathy for his death, shame for the dark crime that caused it. 


CHAPTER XXII. 

JOHNSON’S A D MI NISTR A TION } 1865-1869. 

1. On the day after the assassination of Mr. Lincoln, Andrew Johnson 
took the oath of office, and became President of the United States. He 
was a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, born in 1808. With no advan¬ 
tages of education, he passed his boyhood in poverty and neglect. In 
1828 he removed to Tennessee and settled at Greenville. Here, through 
toil and hardship, he rose to distinction, and after holding minor offices 
was elected to Congress. As a member of the United States Senate in 
1860-61, he opposed secession with all his powers, and continued to hold 
his seat as senator from Tennessee. On the 4th of March, 1862, he was 
appointed military governor of that State. This office he held until 1864, 
and was then nominated for the vice-presidency. Now, by the death of 
the President, he was called to assume the responsibilities of chief mag¬ 
istrate. 

2. On the 1st of February, 1865, Congress adopted an amendment to 
the Constitution by which slavery was abolished and forbidden in all the 
States and Territories of the Union. By the 18th of the following De¬ 
cember the amendment had been ratified by the legislatures of twenty- 
seven States, and was duly proclaimed as a part of the Constitution. The 
emancipation proclamation had been issued as a military measure; now 
the doctrines and results of that instrument were recognized and incor¬ 
porated in the fundamental law of the land. 

3. On the 29th of May the Amnesty Pkoclamation was issued by 
President Johnson. By its provisions a general pardon was extended to 
all persons—except those specified in certain classes—who had participated 
in the organization and defence of the Confederacy. The condition of the 
pardon was that those receiving it should take an oath of allegiance to the 
United States. The excepted persons might also be pardoned on special 
application to the President. During the summer of 1865 the great armies 



460 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


were disbanded, and the victors and vanquished returned to their homes 
to resume the work of peace. 

4. The finances of the nation were in an alarming condition. The war- 
debt went on increasing until the beginning of 1866, and it was only by 
the most herculean exertions that national bankruptcy could be warded 
off. The yearly interest on the debt had grown to a hundred and thirty- 
three million dollars in gold. The expenses of the government had 
reached the aggregate of two hundred millions of dollars annually. But 
the augmented revenues of the nation proved sufficient to meet these 
enormous outlays, and at last the debt began to be slowly diminished. 
On the 5th of December, 1865, a resolution was passed in the House of 
Representatives pledging the faith of the United States to the full pay¬ 
ment of the national indebtedness, both principal and interest. 

5. During the civil war the emperor Napoleon III. interfered in the 
affairs of Mexico, and succeeded, by overawing the people with a French 
army, in setting up an empire. In the early part of 1864 the crown of 
Mexico was conferred on Maximilian, the archduke of Austria, who 
established his government and sustained it with French and Austrian 
soldiers. But the Mexican president Juarez headed a revolution against 
the usurping emperor; the government of the United States rebuked 
France for having violated the Monroe doctrine; Napoleon, becoming 
alarmed, withdrew his army; and Maximilian was overthrown. Flying 
from Mexico to Queretaro, he was there besieged and taken prisoner. 
On the 13th of June, 1867, he was tried by court-martial and condemned 
to be shot; and six days afterward the sentence was carried into execu¬ 
tion. The scheme of Napoleon, who had hoped to profit by the civil war 
and gain a foothold in the New World, was thus justly brought to shame 
and contempt. 

6. After a few weeks of successful operation the first Atlantic telegraph, 
laid by Mr. Field in 1858, had ceased to work. The friends of the enter¬ 
prise were greatly disheartened. Not so with Mr. Field, who continued 
both in Europe and America to advocate the claims of his measure and to 
plead for assistance. He made fifty voyages across the Atlantic, and 
finally secured sufficient capital to begin the laying of a second cable. 
The work began from the coast of Ireland in the summer of 1865. When 
the steamer Great Eastern had proceeded more than twelve hundred miles 
on her way to America, the cable parted and was lost. Mr. Field held on 
to his enterprise. Six millions of dollars had been spent in unsuccessful 
attempts, but still he persevered. In July of 1866 a third cable, two 
thousand miles in length, was coiled in the Great Eastern , and again the 
vessel started on her way. This time the work was completely successful. 









































































































































































































































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JOHNSON’S ADMINISTRATION. 


461 


After twelve years of unremitting effort Mr. Field received a gold medal 
from the Congress of his country, and the plaudits of all civilized nations. 

7. The administration of President Johnson is noted as the time when 
the Territories of the United States assumed their final form. The vast 
domains west of the Mississippi were now reduced to proper limits and 
organized with a view to early admission into the Union as States. A 
large part of the work was accomplished during the administration of 
President Lincoln. In March of 1861 the Territory of Dakota, with an 
area of a hundred and fifty thousand square miles, was detached from 
Nebraska on the north, and given a distinct territorial organization. In 
February of 1863 Arizona, with an area of a hundred and thirteen thou¬ 
sand square miles, was separated from New Mexico on the west and 
organized as an independent Territory. On the 3d of March in the same 
year Idaho was organized out of portions of Dakota, Nebraska and Wash¬ 
ington Territories; and on the 26th of May, 1864, Montana, with an area 
of a hundred and forty-six thousand square miles, was cut off from the 
eastern part of Idaho. By this measure the area of the latter Territory 
was reduced to eighty-six thousand square miles. On the 1st of March, 
1867, the Territory of Nebraska, reduced to its present area of seventy- 
six thousand miles, was admitted into the Union as the thirty-seventh 
State. Finally, on the 25th of July, 1868, the Territory of Wyoming, 
with an area of ninety-eight thousand square miles, was organized out of 
portions of Dakota, Idaho and Utah. Thus were the Territories of the 
great West reduced to their present limits as represented in the accom¬ 
panying map. 

8. The year 1867 was signalized by the Purchase of Alaska. 
Two years previously the territory had been explored by a corps of 
scientific men with a view of establishing telegraphic communication with 
Asia by way of Behring Strait. The report of the exploration showed 
that Alaska was by no means the worthless country it had been supposed 
to be. It was found that the coast-fisheries were of very great value, and 
that the forests of white pine and yellow cedar were among the finest in 
the world. Negotiations for the purchase of the peninsula were at once 
opened, and on the 30th of March, 1867, a treaty was concluded by which, 
for the sum of seven million two hundred thousand dollars, Russia ceded 
Alaska to the United States. The territory thus added to the domains 
of the Republic embraced an area of five hundred and eighty thousand 
square miles, and a population of twenty-nine thousand souls. 

9. Very soon after his accession to the chief magistracy a serious dis¬ 
agreement arose between the President and Congress. The difficulty 
grew out of the great question of reorganizing the Southern States. The 


462 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


particular point in dispute was as to the relation which those States had 
sustained to the Federal Union during the civil war. The President held 
that the ordinances of secession were in their very nature null and void, 
and that therefore the seceded States had never been out of the Union. 
The majority in Congress held that the acts of secession were illegal and 
unconstitutional, but that the seceded States had been by those acts 
actually detached from the Union, and that special legislation and special 
guarantees were necessary in order to restore them to their former rela¬ 
tions under the government. Such was the real foundation of the diffi¬ 
culty by which the question of reconstructing the Southern States was so 
seriously embarrassed. 

10. In the summer of 1865 measures of reconstruction were begun by 
the President in accordance with his own views. On the 9th of May a 
proclamation was issued for the restoration of Virginia to the Union. 
Twenty days afterward another proclamation was issued establishing a 
provisional government over South Carolina; and at brief intervals 
similar measures were adopted in respect to the other States of the late 
Confederacy. On the 24th of June all restrictions on trade and inter¬ 
course with the Southern States were removed by proclamation of the 
President. On the 7th of the following September a second amnesty 
proclamation was issued, by which all persons who had upheld the Con¬ 
federate cause—excepting the leaders—were unconditionally pardoned. 
Meanwhile, the State of Tennessee had been reorganized, and in 1866 
was restored to its place in the Union. When Congress convened in De¬ 
cember of 1866, the policy of the President was severely condemned. 
The difficulty between the executive and legislative departments of the 
government became irreconcilable. A congressional committee of fifteen 
members was appointed, to which were referred all questions concerning 
the reorganization of the Southern States. In accordance with a series 
of measures reported bv this committee, the States of Arkansas, Alabama, 
Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina 
were reconstructed, and in the months of June and July, 1868, read¬ 
mitted into the Union. But in every case the readmission was effected 
over the veto of the President. 

11. In the mean time, a difficulty had arisen in the President’s cabinet 
which led to his impeachment. On the 21st of February, 1868, he noti¬ 
fied Edwin M. Stanton, secretary of war, of his dismissal from office. 
The act was regarded by Congress as a usurpation of authority and a 
violation of law on the part of the President. The reconstruction diffi¬ 
culties had already broken off all friendly relations between the two 
Houses and the executive. Accordingly, on the 3d of March, articles of 


JOHNSON 'S ADMINISTRATION. 


463 



impeachment were agreed to by the House of Representatives, in ac¬ 
cordance with the forms of the Constitution, and the cause was im¬ 
mediately remanded to the Senate for trial. Proceedings began 
before that body on the 23d of March and continued until the 26th 
of May, when the President was acquitted. But his escape was 
very narrow; a two-thirds majority was required to convict, and 
bat one vote was wanting. Chief-Justice Salmon P. Chase, one of the 
most eminent of American statesmen and jurists, presided o^er this 
remarkable trial. 

12. The time for 
holding another presi¬ 
dential election was 
already at hand. 

General Ulysses S. 

Grant was nomina¬ 
ted by the Republi¬ 
cans, and Horatio 
S e y m o u r of New 
York by the Demo¬ 
crats. The canvass 
was attended with 
great excitement. 

The people were still 
agitated by the recent 
strife through which 
the nation had passed, 
and the questions 
most discussed by the 
political speakers were 
those arising out of 
the civil war. The 
principles advocated by the majority in Congress furnished the basis of 
the Republican platform of 1868, and on that platform General Grant 
was elected by a very large majority. As Vice President, Schuyler Col¬ 
fax of Indiana w r as chosen. 


CHIEF-JUSTICE CHASE. 


30 





464 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 


GRANTS ADMINISTRATION, 1869. 


U LYSSES S. GRANT, eighteenth President of the United States, is 
a native of Ohio, born at Point Pleasant, in that State, April 27th, 
1822. At the age of seventeen he entered the United States Military 
Academy at West Point, and was graduated in 1843. He served with 

distinction and was 
promoted for gallantry 
in the Mexican Avar; 
but his first national 
reputation Avas Avon by 
the capture of Forts 
Henry and Donel- 
son in 1862. From 
that time he rapidly 
rose in rank, and in 
March, 1864, received 
the appointment of 
lieutenant-general and 
commander-i n-ch i ef 
of the Union army. 
His subsequent career 
at the head of that 
army has already been 
narrated. 

2. The first event 
by which the neAV 
administration Avas 
president grant. signalized AA^as the 

completion of the 

Pacific Railroad. This vast enterprise was projected as early as 1853; 
but ten years elapsed before the Avork of construction Avas actually begun. 
The first division of the road extended from Omaha, Nebraska, to Ogden, 
Utah, a distance of a thousand and thirty-two miles. The Avestern divis- 




23 Longituc 


110 


100 


Ijongi tude 


ALASKA. 


St.Elias 














































































95 from Greenwich 90 


MAP VII 

ROWING 77^ __ 

TERRITORIAL GROWTH 


L * rt TED STV* V ' 
1780 tq 188 



8CALK OP MILES 



100 200 300 

400 500 


st 18 from Washington 13 
















































































































. 




























































































































































GRA NT >S ADMINISTRA TION. 


465 


ion, called the Central Pacific Railroad, reached from Ogden to San 
Francisco, a distance of eight hundred and eighty-two miles. On the 
10th of May, 1869, the great work was completed with appropriate 
ceremonies. 

3. Before the inauguration of President Grant two additional amend¬ 
ments to the Constitution had been adopted by Congress. The first of 
these, known as the Fourteenth Amendment, extended the right of citi¬ 
zenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and de¬ 
clared the validity of the public debt. This amendment was submitted 
in 1867, was ratified by three-fourths of the States, and in the following 
year became a part of the Constitution. A few weeks before the expiration 
of Mr. Johnson’s term the Fifteenth Amendment was adopted by Congress, 
providing that the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not 
be denied or abridged on account of race, color or previous condition of 
servitude. This clause, which was intended to confer the right of suffrage 
on the emancipated black men of the South, was also submitted to the 
States, received the sanction of three-fourths of the legislatures, and on 
the 30th of March, 1870, was proclaimed by the President as a part of 
the Constitution. 

4. In the first three months of 1870 the work of reorganizing the 
Southern States was completed. On the 24th of January the senators 
and representatives of Virginia were formally readmitted to their seats in 
Congress, and the Old Dominion once more took her place in the Union. 
On the 23d of February a like action was taken in regard to Mississippi; 
and on the 30th of March the work was finished by the readmission of 
Texas, the last of the seceded States. For the first time since the outbreak 
of the civil war the voice of all the States was heard in the councils of 
the nation. 

5. In this year was completed the ninth census of the United States. 
It was a work of vast importance, and the results presented were of the 
most encouraging character. Notwithstanding the ravages of war, the 
last decade had been a period of wonderful growth and progress. During 
that time the population had increased from thirty-one million four hun¬ 
dred and forty-three thousand to thirty-eight million five hundred and 
eighty-seven thousand souls. The centre of population had now moved 
westward into the great State of Ohio, and rested at a point fifty miles 
east of Cincinnati. The national debt, though still enormous, was rapidly 
falling off. The products of the United States had grown to a vast 
aggregate; even the cotton crop of the South was regaining much of its 
former importance. American manufactures were competing with those 
of England in the markets of the world. The Union now embraced 


466 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


thirty-seven States and eleven Territories.* From the narrow limits of 
the thirteen original colonies, with their four hundred and twenty-one 
thousand square miles of territory, the national domain had spread to the 
vast area of three million six hundred and four thousand square miles. 
Few things, indeed, have been more marvelous than the territorial growth 
of the United States. The purchase of Louisiana more than doubled the 
geographical area of the nation ; the several Mexican acquisitions were 
only second in importance; while the recent Russian cession alone was 
greater in extent than the original thirteen States. The nature of this 
territorial development will be best understood from an examination of 
the accompanying map. 

6. In January of 1871 President Grant appointed Senator Wade of 
Ohio, Professor White of New York and Dr. Samuel Howe of Massa¬ 
chusetts as a board of commissioners to visit Santo Domingo and report 
upon the desirability of annexing that island to the United States. The 
question of annexation had been agitated for several years, and the 
measure was earnestly favored by the President. After three months 
spent abroad, the commissioners returned and reported in favor of the 
proposed annexation; but the proposal was met with violent opposition 
in Congress, and defeated. 

7. The claim of the United States against the British government for 
damages done to American commerce by Confederate cruisers during the 
civil war still remained unsettled. These cruisers had been built and 
equipped in English ports and with the knowledge of the English gov¬ 
ernment. Such a proceeding was in plain violation of the law of nations, 
even if the independence of the Confederate States had been recognized. 
Time and again Mr. Seward remonstrated with the British authorities, 
but without effect. After the war Great Britain became alarmed at her 
own conduct, and grew anxious for a settlement of the difficulty. On 
the 27th of February, 1871, a joint high commission, composed of five 
British and five American statesmen, assembled at Washington city. 
From the fact that the cruiser Alabama had done most of the injury 
complained of, the claims of the United States were called the Alabama 
Claims. After much discussion, the commissioners framed a treaty, 
known as the Treaty of Washington, by which it was agreed that all 
claims of either nation against the other should be submitted to a board 
of arbitration to be appointed by friendly nations. Such a court was 
formed, and in the summer of 1872 convened at Geneva, Switzerland. 
The cause of the two nations was impartially heard, and on the 14th of 
September decided in favor of the United States. Great Britain was 

* Including the Indian Territory and Alaska. 


GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION. 


467 


obliged, for the wrongs which she had done, to pay into the Federal 
treasury fifteen million five hundred thousand dollars. 

8. The year 1871 is noted in American history for the burning of 
Chicago. On the evening of the 8th of October a fire broke out in De 
Koven street, and was driven by a high wind into the lumber-yards and 
wooden houses of the neighborhood. The flames leaped the South Branch 
of the Chicago River and spread with great rapidity through the business 
parts of the city. All day long the deluge of fire rolled on, crossed the 
main channel of the river, and swept into a blackened ruin the whole dis¬ 
trict between the North Branch and the lake as far northward as Lincoln 
Park. The area burned over was two thousand one hundred acres, or 
three and a third square miles. Nearly two hundred lives were lost in 
the conflagration, and the property destroyed amounted to about two 
hundred millions of dollars. No such a terrible devastation had been 
witnessed since the burning of Moscow in 1812. In the extent of the 
district burned over, the Chicago fire stands first, in the amount of 
property destroyed second, and in the suffering occasioned third, among 
the great conflagrations of the world. 

9. As the first official term of President Grant drew to a close the 
political parties made ready for the twenty-second presidential election. 
Many parts of the chief magistrate’s policy had been made the subjects of 
criticism and controversy. The congressional plan of reconstructing the 
Southern States had prevailed, and with that plan the President was in 
accord. But the reconstruction measures had been unfavorably received 
in the South. The elevation of the negro race to the full rights of citizen¬ 
ship was regarded with apprehension. Owing to the disorganization of 
civil government in the Southern States, an opportunity was given in 
certain districts for bad men to band themselves together in lawlessness. 
The military spirit was still rife in the country, and the issues of the civil 
war were rediscussed, sometimes with much bitterness. On these issues 
the people divided in the election of 1872. The Republicans renominated 
General Grant for the presidency. For the vice-presidency Mr. Colfax 
declined a renomination, and was succeeded by Henry Wilson of Massa¬ 
chusetts. As the standard-bearer of the Liberal Republican and Demo¬ 
cratic parties Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune , was 
nominated. This was the last act in that remarkable man’s career. For 
more than thirty years he had been an acknowledged leader of public 
opinion in America. He had discussed with vehement energy and en¬ 
thusiasm almost every question in which the people of the United States 
have any interest. After a lifetime of untiring industry he was now, at 
the age of sixty-one, called to the forefront of political strife. The canvass 


468 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES . 



was one of wild excitement and bitter denunciations. Mr. Greeley was 
overwhelmingly defeated, and died in less than a month after the elec¬ 
tion. In his death the 
nation lost a great 
philanthropist a n d 
journalism its bright¬ 
est light. 

10. A few days after 
the presidential elec¬ 
tion the city of Bos¬ 
ton was visited with a 
conflagration only 
second in its ravages 
to that of Chicago in 
the previous year. 
On the evening of the 
9th of November a 
fire broke out on the 
corner of Kingston 
and Summer streets, 
spread to the north¬ 
east, and continued 
with almost unabated 
fury until the morn- 

HOEACE GREELEY. of the Util. Tlie 

best portion of the 

city, embracing some of the finest blocks in the United States, was laid in 
ashes. The burnt district covered an area of sixty-five acres. Eight 
hundred buildings, property to the value of eighty million dollars, and 
fifteen lives were lost by the conflagration. 

11. In the spring pf 1872 an order had been issued to Superintendent 
Odeneal to remove the Modoc Indians from their lands on the southern 
shore of Lake Klamath, Oregon, to a new reservation. The Indians, who 
had been greatly mistreated by former agents of the government, refused 
to go; and in the following November a body of troops was sent to force 
them into compliance. The Modocs resisted, kept up the war during the 
winter, and then retreated into an almost inaccessible volcanic region 
called the lava-beds. Here, in the spring of 1873, the Indians were sur¬ 
rounded, but not subdued. On the 11th of April a conference was held 
between them and six members of the peace commission; but in the 
midst of the council the treacherous savages rose upon the kind-hearted 


GRANT’S ADMINISTRATION. 


469 


men who sat beside them and murdered General Canby and Dr. Thomas 
in cold blood. Mr. M each am, another member of the commission, was 
shot and stabbed, but escaped with his life. The Modocs were then be¬ 
sieged and bombarded in their stronghold; but it was the 1st of June 
before General Davis with a force of regulars could compel Captain Jack 
and his murderous band to surrender. The chiefs were tried by court- 

martial and executed in the following October. 

© 

12. In the early part of 1873 a difficulty arose in Louisiana which 
threatened the peace of the country. Owing to the existence of double 
election-boards two sets of presidential electors had been chosen in the 
previous autumn. At the same time two governors—William P. Kellogg 
and John McEnery—were elected; and rival legislatures were also re¬ 
turned by the hostile boards. Two State governments were accordingly 
organized, and for a while the commonwealth was in a condition border^ 
ing on anarchy. The dispute was referred to the Federal government, 
and the President decided in favor of Governor Kellogg and his party. 
The rival government was accordingly disbanded ; but on the 14th of 
September, 1874, a large party, opposed to the administration of Kellogg 
and led by D. B. Penn, who had been returned as lieutenant-governor 
with McEnery, rose in arn;s and took possession of the State-house. 
Governor Kellogg fled to the custom-house and appealed to the President 
for help. The latter immediately ordered the adherents of Penn to dis¬ 
perse, and a body of national troops was sent to New Orleans to enforce 
the proclamation. On the assembling of the legislature in the following 
December the difficulty broke out more violently than ever, and the sol¬ 
diery was again called in to settle the dispute. 

13. About the beginning of President Grant’s second term, the country 
was greatly agitated by what was known as the Credit Mobilier 
Investigation in Congress. The Credit Mobilier of America was a 
joint stock company organized in 1863 for the purpose of facilitating the 
construction of public works. In 1867 another company which had 
undertaken to build the Pacific Railroad purchased the charter of the 
Credit Mobilier, and the capital was increased to three million seven 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Owing to the profitableness of the 
work in which the company was engaged, the stock rose rapidly in value 
and enormous dividends were paid to the shareholders. In 1872 a law¬ 
suit in Pennsylvania developed the startling fact that much of the stock 
of the Credit Mobilier teas owned by members of Congress . A suspicion 
that those members had voted corruptly in the legislation affecting the 
Pacific Railroad at once seized the public mind and led to a congressional 
investigation, in the course of which many scandalous transactions were 


470 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



brought to light, and the faith of the people in the integrity of their 
servants greatly shaken. 

14. In the autumn of 1873 occurred one of the most disastrous financial 
panics known in the history of the United States. The alarm was given 
by the failure of the great banking-house of Jay Cooke & Company of 
Philadelphia. Other failures followed in rapid succession. Depositors 
everywhere hurried to the banks and withdrew their money and securities. 

Business was suddenly 
paralyzed, and many 
months elapsed before 
confidence was suffi¬ 
ciently restored to 
enable merchants and 
bankers to engage in 
the usual transactions 
of trade. The pri¬ 
mary cause of the 
panic was the fluctu¬ 
ation in the volume 
and value of the na¬ 
tional currency. Out 
of this had arisen a 
wild spirit of specu¬ 
lation which sapped 
the foundations of 
business, destroyed 
financial confidence, 
and ended in disaster. 
15. The last years 
charles sumner. of the history of the 

Republic have been 

noted for the number of public men who have fallen by the hand of 
death. In December of 1869 Edwin M. Stanton, secretary of war under 
President Lincoln, and more recently justice of the supreme court of the 
United States, died. In 1870 General Robert E. Lee, president of 
Washington and Lee University, General George H. Thomas and Ad¬ 
miral Farragut passed away. In 1872 William H. Seward, Professor 
Morse, Horace Greeley and General Meade were all called from the scene 
of their earthly labors. On the 7th of May, 1873, Chief Justice Chase 
fell under a stroke of paralysis at the home of his daughter in New York 
city; and on the 11th of March in the following year, Senator Charles 


GRANTS ADMINISTRATION. 


471 


Sumner of Massachusetts died at Washington. He was a native of 
Boston; born in 1811; liberally educated at Harvard College. At the 
age of thirty-five he entered the arena of public life, and in 1850 suc¬ 
ceeded Daniel Webster in the Senate of the United States. This posi¬ 
tion he retained until the time of his death, speaking much and pow¬ 
erfully on all the great questions that agitated the nation. On the 
31st of July, 1875, Ex-President Andrew Johnson, who had been 
recently chosen United States Senator from Tennessee, passed from 
among the living. On the 22d of the following November, Vice 
President Henry Wilson, whose health had been gradually failing 
since his inauguration, sank into rest. 

16. With the coming of 1876, the people made ready to celebrate 
the Centennial of American Independence. As to the form of 
the celebration, an international exposition of arts and industries was 
decided on; as to the place, the city of Philadelphia, hallowed by 
Revolutionary memories, was selected; as to the time, from the 10th 
of May to the 10th of November, 1876. An appropriation of a 
million five hundred thousand dollars was made by Congress, and 
voluntary offerings were forwarded from every State and territory 
of the Union. The city of Philadelphia opened Fairmount Park, one 
of the largest and most magnificent in the world, for the exposition. 

17. Five principal buildings were projected by the Centennial 
Commissioners and were brought to completion about the close of 
1875. The largest of these great structures, called the Main Build¬ 
ing, was eighteen hundred and eighty feet in length, and four hun¬ 
dred and sixty-four feet wide, covering an area of twenty acres. The 
cost of the edifice was a million five hundred and eighty thousand 
dollars. The building second in importance was the Memorial Hall 
or Art Gallery, built of granite, iron, and glass, and covering an area 
of seventy-six thousand six hundred and fifty square feet. Machin¬ 
ery Hall, the third great structure, was like the Main Building in 
general appearance, though less beautiful and grand. The ground 
floor embraced an area of nearly thirteen acres. The cost of the 
structure was five hundred and forty-two thousand dollars. Agricul¬ 
tural Hall occupied a space of a little more than ten acres, and was 
built at a cost of nearly two hundred and sixty thousand dollars. 
The fifth and smallest of the principal buildings was Horticultural 
Hall, an edifice of the Moorish pattern, covering a space of one and 
three-fifths acres, and costing three hundred thousand dollars. The 
other structures of chief interest were the United States Government 
Building, the Woman’s Pavilion, and the Department of Public 


472 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Comfort. After these came the 
Government buildings of foreign 
nations; model dwellings and ba¬ 
zaars; school-houses and restau¬ 
rants; judges’ halls and model 
factories. 

18. On the 5th of January, 1876, 
the reception of articles for the 
Exposition was begun. A system 
of awards was adopted; and on 
the 10th of May the inaugural 
ceremonies were held under the 
direction of the Centennial Com¬ 
mission, President Grant making 
the opening address. The exhi¬ 
bition itself was perhaps the grand¬ 
est and most interesting ever wit¬ 
nessed in the world. All summer 
long the throng of visitors—gath¬ 
ered from every clime — poured 
into the spacious and beautiful 
park. On the 4th of July, the 
Centennial of the great Declara¬ 
tion was appropriately celebrated 
throughout the country. The city 
of Philadelphia was crowded with 
two hundred and fifty thousand 
strangers. In Independence Square 
the Declaration was read from the 
original manuscript by Richard 
Henry Lee, a grandson of him by 
whom the resolution to be free 
was first offered in Congress. A 
National Ode was then recited by 
Bayard Taylor, and the Centennial 
Oration delivered by William M. 
Evarts. At night the city was il¬ 
luminated, and the ceremonies con¬ 
cluded with a brilliant display of 
fireworks. 

19. The daily attendance at Fair- 



























































GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION. 


473 


mount Park during the summer varied from five thousand to two 
hundred and seventy-five thousand persons. The grounds were open 
for one hundred and fifty-eight days; the total receipts for admission 
were three million seven hundred and sixty-one thousand dollars; 
and the total number of visitors, nine million seven hundred and 
eighty-six thousand. On the 10th of November, the exhibition was 
formally closed by the President of the United States attended by 
General Hawley, chairman of the Centennial Commission and Di¬ 
rector-General Alfred T. Goshorn, of Cincinnati. 



20. During the last year of Grant’s administration, the country was 
disturbed by a war with the Sioux Indians. These fierce sav¬ 
ages had, in 1861, made a treaty with the United States, agreeing to 
relinquish all the territory south of the Niobrara, west of the one 
hundred and fourth meridian, and north of the forty-sixth parallel 
of latitude. By this treaty the Sioux were confined to a large reser¬ 
vation in south-western Dakota, and upon this reservation they agreed 
to retire by the 1st of January, 1876. Meanwhile gold was discov¬ 
ered in the Black Hills—a region the greater part of which belonged, 
by the terms of the treaty, to the Sioux. But no treaty could keep 
the hungry horde of gold-diggers and adventurers from overrunning 
the interdicted district. This gave the Sioux a good excuse for 
gratifying their natural disposition by breaking over the limits 
of their reservation, roaming at large through Wyoming and Mon- 






















474 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tana, burning bouses, stealing horses, and murdering whoever opposed 
them. 

21. The Government now undertook to drive the Sioux upon their 
reservation. A force of regulars, under Generals Terry and Crook, 
was sent into the mountainous country of the Upper Yellowstone, 

and the savages, numbering several 
thousand, led by their noted chief¬ 
tain, Sitting Bull, were crowded 
back against the Big Horn Mount¬ 
ains and River. Generals Custer 
and Reno who were sent forward 
with the Seventh Cavalry to dis¬ 
cover the whereabouts of the In¬ 
dians, found them encamped in a 
village extending for three miles 
alone: the left bank of the Little 
Horn. On the 25th of June, Gen¬ 
eral Custer, without waiting for 
reinforcements, charged headlong 
with his division into the Indian town and was immediately sur¬ 
rounded by thousands of yelling warriors. Of the struggle that en¬ 
sued, very little is known ; for General Custer and every man of his 
command fell in the fight. The conflict equaled, if it did not surpass, 
in desperation and disaster any other Indian battle ever fought in 
America. The whole loss of the Seventh Cavalry was two hundred 
and sixty-one killed, and fifty-two wounded. General Reno, who 
had engaged with the savages at the lower end of the town, held his 
position on the bluffs of the Little Horn until General Gibbon ar¬ 
rived with reinforcements and saved the remnant from destruction. 

22. Other divisions of the army were soon hurried to the scene of 
hostilities. During the summer and autumn the Indians were beaten 
in several engagements, and negotiations were opened looking to the 
removal of the Sioux to the Indian Territory. But still a few des¬ 
perate bands held out against the Government. Besides, the civilized 
Nations of the Territory objected to having the fierce savages of the 
North for their neighbors. On the 24th of November, the Sioux were 
decisively defeated by the Fourth Cavalry, under Colonel McKenzie, 
at a pass in the Big Horn Mountains The Indians lost severely, and 
their village, containing a hundred and seventy-three lodges, was en¬ 
tirely destroyed. The army now went into winter-quarters at various 
points in the hostile country; but active operations were sail carried 









GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION. 


475 


on by forays and expeditions during December and January. On the 
5th of the latter month, the savages were again overtaken and routed 
by the division of General Miles; and with the opening of spring the 
remaining bands, under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, were so scat¬ 
tered as to be able to otfer no further serious resistance. 

23. On the 1st of July, 1876, the constitution of Colorado was rat¬ 
ified by the people of the Territory. A month later the President 
issued his proclamation, and the new commonwealth took her place as 
the thirty-eighth member of the Union. The population of the State 
already numbered forty-five thousand. Until 1859, Colorado consti¬ 
tuted a part of Kansas. In that year a convention was held at Denver, 
and a distinct territorial government was organized. At the close of 
1875, the yield of gold in a the Centennial State” had reached the 
sum of seventy millions of dollars. 

24. The excitement occasioned by the Centennial celebration and 
the Sioux war was soon overshadowed by the agitation attendant upon 
the twenty-third Presidential election. Before the close of June, 
standard-bearers were selected by the two leading political parties. 
General Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio and William A. Wheeler of 
New York, were chosen as candidates by the Republicans; Samuel J. 
Tilden of New York and Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana, by the 
Democrats. A third —the Independent Greenback— party also 
appeared, and presented as candidates Peter Cooper of New York and 
Samuel F. Cary of Ohio. 

25.. The canvass began early and with great spirit. The battle^ 
cry of the Democratic party was Reform —reform in the public serv¬ 
ice and in all the methods of administration. The Republicans an¬ 
swered back with the cry of Reform ,—averring a willingness and an 
anxiety to correct public abuses of whatsoever sort. To this it was 
added that the nationality of the United States, as against the doc¬ 
trine of State sovereignty, must be upheld, and that the rights of 
the colored people of the South must be protected with additional 
safeguards. The Independent party echoed the cry of Reform— 
monetary reform first, and all other reforms afterwards. For it 
was alleged by the leaders of this party that the measure of redeem¬ 
ing the national legal-tenders and other obligations of the United 
states in gold, was a project unjust to the debtor-class, and impos¬ 
sible of accomplishment. But the advocates of this theory did not 
succeed in securing a single electoral vote. The real contest lay 
between the Republicans and the Democrats. The election was held; 
the general result was ascertained; and both parties claimed the victory ! 


476 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


The election was so evenly balanced between the two candidates, there 
had been so much irregularity in the electoral proceedings in the 
States of Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon, and the 
powers of Congress over the votes of such States were so vaguely 
defined, that no certain declaration of the result could be made. 

26. When Congress convened in December, the question of the dis¬ 
puted presidency came before that body for adjustment. The point 
at issue was whether the electoral votes of the several States should 
be opened and counted by the presiding officer of the Senate, or 
whether some additional court ought to be constituted to determine 
the result. Meanwhile the necessity of doing something became more 
and more imperative. The spirit of compromise gained ground; and 
after much debating in Congress it was agreed that all the disputed 
election returns should be referred to a Joint High Commission, 
consisting of five members to be chosen from the United States Senate, 
five from the House of Representatives, and five from the Supreme 
Court. The Commission was accordingly constituted; and on the 
2d of March, only two days before the time for the inauguration, a final 
decision was rendered. The Republican candidates were declared 
elected. One hundred and eighty-five electoral votes were cast for 
Hayes and Wheeler, and one hundred and eighty-four for Tilden 
and Hendricks. The greatest political crisis in the history of the 
nation passed harmlessly by without violence or bloodshed. 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

HA YES’S ADMINISTRATION, 1877-1881. 

I )UTHERFORD B. HAYES, nineteenth President of the United 
^ States, was born in Delaware, Ohio, on the 4th day of October, 
1822. His ancestors were soldiers of the Revolution. His primary 
education was received in the public schools. Afterward, his studies 
were extended to Greek and Latin at the Norwalk Academy; and in 
1837 he became a student at Webb's preparatory school, at Middle- 
town, Connecticut. In the following year, he entered the Freshman 
class at Kenyon College and in 1842 was graduated from that institu¬ 
tion with the highest honors of his class. Three years after his gradu¬ 
ation, he completed his legal studies at Harvard University, and soon 
afterward began the practice j>f his profession, first at Marietta, then 



HAYES’S ADMINISTRATION. 


477 



at Fremont, and finally as city solicitor, in Cincinnati. Here he 
won an enviable reputation as a lawyer. During the Civil War he 
performed much honorable service in the Union cause, rose to the 
rank of major-general, and in 1864, while still in the field, was elected 
to Congress. Three years later he was chosen governor of Ohio, was 
reelected in 1869, and again in 1875. At the Cincinnati convention 
of 1876, he had the good fortune to be nominated for the presidency 
over several of the most eminent men of the nation. 

2. In his 
inaugural ad¬ 
dress, deliv¬ 
ered on the 
5th of March,* 

President 
Hayes indi¬ 
cated the 
policy of his 
administra¬ 
tion. The dis¬ 
tracted South 
was assured of 
right purposes 
on the part of 
the new chief- 
magistrate ; a 
radical reform 
in the civil 


service was 
avowed as a 
part of his 
policy; and a 

speedy return to specie payments was recommended as the final cure 
for the deranged finances of the nation. The immediate effect of these 
assurances was to rally around the incipient administration the better 
part of all the parties and to introduce a new “ Era of Good Feeling” 
as peaceable in its character as the former turbulence had been excit¬ 
ing and dangerous. 


RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 


*The 4th of March fell on Sunday. This has happened in the following years: 1753, 
1781, 1821 (Monroe’s inauguration, second term), 1849 (Taylor’s inauguration), 1877 
(Hayes’s inauguration);—and the same will hereafter occur as follows: 1917,1945,1973, 
2001, 2029, 2057, 2085, 2125, 2153. 



478 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


3. On the 8th of March, the President nominated his cabinet. The 
members, though exceptionably able and statesmanlike, were notice¬ 
ably non-partisan in character. As secretary of state William M. 
Evarts, of New York, was chosen; John Sherman, of Ohio, was 
named as secretary of the treasury; George W. McCrary, of Iowa, 
secretary of war; Richard W. Thompson, of Indiana, secretary of the 
navy; Carl Schurz, of Missouri, secretary of the interior; Charles E. 
Devens, of Massachusetts, attorney-general; and David M. Key, of 
Tennessee, postmaster-general. These nominations were duly ratified 
by the Senate; and the new administration and the New Century of 
the republic were ushered in together. 

4. In the summer of 1877 occurred the great labor disturbance 
known as the Railroad Strike. The workingmen and the capital¬ 
ists of the country had for some time maintained towards each other a 
kind of armed neutrality hurtful alike to the interests of both. In the 
spring of this year, the managers of the great railways leading from 
the seaboard to the West declared a reduction of ten per cent, in the 
wages of their workmen. This measure was violently resisted by the 
employes of the companies, and the most active steps were taken to 
prevent its success. On the 16th of July, the employes of the Balti¬ 
more and Ohio Railroad left their posts and gathered such strength in 
Baltimore and at Martinsburg, West Virginia, as to prevent the run¬ 
ning of trains and set the authorities at defiance. The militia was 
called out by Governor Matthews and sent to Martinsburg, but was 
soon dispersed by the strikers who, for the time, remained masters of 
the line. The President then ordered General French to the scene 
with a body of regulars, and the blockade of the road was raised. On 
the 20th of the month, a terrible tumult occurred in Baltimore; but 
the troops succeeded in scattering the rioters, of whom nine were killed 
and many wounded. 

5. Meanwhile the strike spread everywhere. In less than a week 
the trains had been stopped on all the important roads between the 
Hudson and the Mississippi. Travel ceased, freights perished en 
route, business was paralyzed. In Pittsburgh, the strikers, rioters, and 
dangerous classes gathering in a mob to the number of twenty thou¬ 
sand, obtained complete control of the city, and for two days held a 
reign of terror unparalleled in the history of the country. The Union 
Depot and all the machine shops and other railroad buildings of the 
city were burned. A hundred and twenty-five locomotives, and two 
thousand five hundred cars laden with valuable cargoes, were de¬ 
stroyed amid the wildest havoc and uproar. The insurrection was 


HA YES'S ADMIXISTRA TION. 


479 


finally suppressed by the regular troops and the Pennsylvania 
militia, but not until nearly a hundred lives had been lost and 
property destroyed to the value of more than three millions of 
dollars. 

6. On the 25th of the month, a similar blit less terrible riot occurred 
at Chicago. In this tumult fifteen of the insurgents were killed by the 
military of the city. On the next day, St. Louis was for some hours in 
peril of the mob. San Francisco was at the same time the scene of a 
dangerous outbreak, which was here directed against the Chinese immi¬ 
grants and the managers of the lumber yards. Cincinnati, Columbus, 
Louisville, Indianapolis, and Fort Wayne, were for awhile in danger, 
but escaped without serious loss of life or property. By the close of 
the month, the alarming insurrection was at an end. Business and 
travel flowed back into their usual channels; but the sudden outbreak 
had given a great shock to the public mind, and revealed a hidden 
peril to American institutions. 

7. In the mean time a war had broken out with the Nez Perc6 
Indians of Idaho. This tribe of natives had been known to the Gov¬ 
ernment since 1806, when the first treaty was made with them by the 
explorers, Lewis and Clarke. Afterwards, missionary stations were 
established among them, and the nation remained on friendly terms 
until after the war with Mexico. In 1854 the authorities of the 
United States purchased a part of the Nez Perce territory, large reser¬ 
vations being made in North-western Idaho and North-eastern Oregon; 
but some of the chiefs refused to ratify the purchase and remained at 
large. This was the beginning of difficulties. 

8. The war began with the usual depredations by the Indians. 
General Howard, commanding the Department of the Columbia, 
marched against them with a small force of regulars; but the Nez 
Perces, led by their noted chieftain Joseph, fled first in this direction 
and then in that, avoiding battle. During the greater part of the sum¬ 
mer the pursuit continued; still the Indians could not be overtaken. 
In the fall they were chased through the mountains into Northern 
Montana, where they were confronted by other troops commanded by 
Colonel Miles. 

9. The Nez Perces, thus hemmed in, were next driven across the 
Missouri River, near the mouth of the Musselshell, and were finally 
surrounded in their camp, north of the Bear Paw Mountains. Here, 
on the 4th of October, they were attacked by the forces of Colonel 
Miles. A hard battle was fought, and the Indians were completely 
routed. Only a few led by the chief White Bird, escaped. All 

31 


480 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


the rest were either killed or made prisoners. Three hundred and 
seventy-five of the captive Nez Perces were brought back to the 
American post on the Missouri. The troops of General Howard had 
made forced marches through a mountainous country for a distance of 
sixteen hundred miles !—The campaign was crowned with complete 
success. 

10. During the year 1877, the public mind was greatly agitated 
concerning the Remonetization of Silver. By the first coinage 
regulations of the United States, the standard unit of value was the 
American Silver Dollar, containing three hundred and seventy-one and 
one-fourth grains of pure silver. Until 1873, the quantity of pure 
metal in this standard unit had never been changed, though the 
amount of alloy contained in the dollar was several times altered. 
Meanwhile, in 1849, a gold dollar was added to the coinage, and from 
that time forth the standard unit of value existed in both metals. In 
the years 1873- ? 74, a series of acts were adopted by Congress bearing 
upon the standard unit of value, whereby the legal-tender quality of 
silver was abolished, and the silver dollar omitted from the list of 
coins to be struck at the national mints. The general effect of these 
acts was to leave the gold dollar of twenty-three and twenty-two- 
hundredths grains the single standard unit of value in the United 
States. 

11. In January of 1875, the Resumption Act was passed by Con¬ 
gress, whereby it was declared that on the 1st of January, 1879, the 
Government should begin to redeem its outstanding legal-tender notes 
in coin. As the time for resumption drew near, the question was 
raised as to the meaning of “coin” in the act for resuming specie pay¬ 
ments; and now the attention of the people was aroused to the fact that 
the privilege of paying debts in silver had been taken away, and that 
all obligations must be discharged according to the measure of the 
gold dollar only. The cry for the remonetization of silver was heard 
everywhere. The question reached the Government, and early in 
1878 a measure was passed for the restoration of the legal-tender qual¬ 
ity of the old silver dollar, and providing for the compulsory coinage 
of that unit at a rate of not less than two millions of dollars a month. 
The President returned the bill with his objections, but the veto was 
crushed under a tremendous majority, and the old double standard of 
values was restored. 

12. In the summer of 1878, several of the Gulf States were scourged 
with a Yellow Fever Epidemic, unparalleled in the history of the 
country. The disease made its appearance in New Orleans in the 


HAYES’S ADMINISTRATION 


481 


latter part of May, and from thence was scattered among the towns 
along the Mississippi. The Southern cities were nearly all in a condi¬ 
tion to invite the presence of the scourge. The terror soon spread 
from town to town. Memphis and Grenada became a scene of deso¬ 
lation. At Vicksburgh the ravages of the plague were almost equally 
terrible; and even in the parish-towns remote from the river the hor¬ 
rors of the scourge were felt. The helpless populations along the 
Lower Mississippi languished and died by thousands. A regular sys¬ 
tem of contributions was established in the Northern States, and men 
and treasure were poured out without stint to relieve the suffering 
South. After more than twenty thousand people had fallen victims to 
the plague, the frosts of October came and ended the pestilence. 

13. By the Treaty of Washington,* it was agreed that the right of 
the United States in certain sea-fisheries which had hitherto belonged 
exclusively to Great Britain, should be acknowledged aud maintained. 
It was conceded that the privilege of taking fish on the sea-coasts and 
shores, and in the bays and creeks of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New 
Brunswick, Prince Edward’s Island, and the islands adjacent, should 
be guaranteed to American fishermen, without prejudice or partiality. 
On the other hand, the United States agreed to relinquish the duties 
which had hitherto been charged oil fish imported by British subjects. 
Several other concessions were mutually made, and in order to balance 
any discrepancy in the aggregate of such concessions, and to make the 
settlement final, it was further agreed that any total advantage to the 
United States might be compensated by a sum in gross to be paid by 
the American government to Great Britain. A Commission was pro¬ 
vided for, and in the summer of 1877 the sittings began at Halifax. 
But little attention was given to the proceedings until November, 
when the country was startled by the announcement that an award of 
Jive millions of dollars had been made against the American government! 
The decision was received with general surprise, both in the United 
States and in Europe; and for awhile it seemed probable that the ar¬ 
bitration might be renounced as iniquitous. It was decided, however, 
that the award, whether just or unjust, would better stand; and 
accordingly, in November, 1878, the amount was paid to the British 
government. 

14. The year 1878 witnessed the establishment of a Resident 
Chinese Embassy at Washington. For twenty years the great treaty 
negotiated by Anson Burlingame had been in force between the 
United States and China. The commercial relations of the two 

* See page 466. 


482 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


countries had been vastly extended, and a knowledge of the institu¬ 
tions and customs of the Celestial Empire had broken down in some 
measure the race-prejudice existing against the Mongolians. The en¬ 
lightened policy of the emperor had also contributed to establish more 
friendly intercourse with the United States. The idea of sending resi¬ 
dent ambassadors to the American government had been entertained 
for several years. The officers chosen by the imperial government as 
its representatives were Chen Lan Pin, minister plenipotentiary, 
Yung Wing, assistant envoy, and Yung Tsang Siang, secretary of 
legation. On the 28th of September the embassy was received by the 
President. The ceremonies of the occasion were among the most 
interesting ever witnessed in Washington, and the speech of Chen 
Lan Pin was equal in dignity and appropriateness to the best efforts 
of a European diplomatist. 

15. The history of modern times contains many evidences of the 
growing estimate placed by civilized states upon the value of human 
life. On the 18th of June, 1878, the Life-Saving Service of 
the United States was established by act of Congress. The plan 
proposed was the establishment of regular stations and light-houses on 
all the exposed parts of the Atlantic coast and along the great lakes. 
Each station was to be manned by a band of surfmen experienced in 
the dangers peculiar to the shore in times of storms, and drilled in 
the best methods of rescue and resuscitation. Boats of the most ap¬ 
proved pattern were provided and equipped. A hundred appliances 
and inventions suggested by the wants of the service were supplied 
and their use taught to the brave men who were employed at the sta¬ 
tions. The success of the enterprise has been so great as to reflect 
the highest credit upon its promoters. The number of lives saved 
through the direct agency of the service reaches to thousands annu¬ 
ally. So carefully are the exposed coasts of the United States now 
guarded that it is almost impossible for a foundering ship to be 
driven within sight of the shore without at once beholding, through 
the darkness of night, the sudden glare of the red-light signal flaming 
up from the beach, telling the story of friends near by and rescue 
soon to come. 

16. On the 1st of January, 1879, the Resumption of Specie 
Payments was accomplished by the United States. For more than 
seventeen years gold and silver coin had been at a premium over the 
legal-tender notes of the Government. The monetary unit had been 
so fluctuating as to render legitimate business almost impossible, 
The purchasing power of a dollar could hardly be predicted from one 


HA YES’S ADMINISTRATION. 


483 


week to another. A spirit of speculation had taken possession of the 
market values of the country. The lawful transactions of the street, 
carried forward in obedience to the plain principles of political econ- 
omy, suffered shipwreck. After the passage of the Resumption Act, 
in 1875, the debtor classes of the country entered a period of great 
hardship; for their indebtedness constantly augmented in a ratio be¬ 
yond the possibility of payment. It was an epoch of financial ruin 
and bankruptcy. With the accomplishment of Resumption, however, 
a certain degree of confidence was restored, and the fact was hailed 
by many as the omen of better times. 

17. The presidential election of 1880 was accompanied with the 
usual excitement attendant upon great political struggles. The elec¬ 
tions of 1878 had generally gone against the Republican party; and 
it was not unreasonable to expect that in the contest for the presi¬ 
dency the Democratic party would prove successful. The Republican 
national convention was held in Chicago on the 2d and 3d of June. 
A platform of principles was adopted; and after the greater part of 
two days had been consumed in balloting, General James A. Garfield, 
of Ohio, was nominated for President, and Chester A. Arthur, of 
New York, for Vice-President. The Democratic national convention 
assembled in Cincinnati on the 22d of June, and nominated for the 
presidency General Winfield S. Hancock, of New York, and for the 
vice-presidency William H. English, of Indiana. Meanwhile the 
National Greenback party held a convention in Chicago, on the 9th 
of June, and nominated as standard-bearers General James B. 
Weaver, of Iowa, for President, and General Benjamin J. Chambers, 
of Texas, for Vice-President. 

18. The canvass had not progressed far until it became evident 
that the contest lay between the Republican and the Democratic 
party, and that the long-standing sectional division into North and 
South was likely once more to decide the contest in favor of the 
former. The election resulted in the choice of Garfield and Arthur. 
Two hundred and fourteen electoral votes, embracing those of nearly 
all the Northern States, were cast for the Republican candidates, and 
one hundred and fifty-five votes, including those of every Southern 
State, were given to Hancock and English. The candidates of the 
National party secured no electoral votes, though the popular vote 
given to Weaver and Chambers aggregated 307,000. 

19. Soon after retiring from the presidency, General Grant, with 
his family and a company of personal friends, set out to make A tour 
of the world. Though the expedition was intended to be private it 


484 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 


could but attract the most conspicuous attention. The departure from 
Philadelphia, on the 17th of May, 1877, was the beginning of a 
pageant which was never before extended to any citizen of any nation 
of the earth. Wherever the distinguished ex-President went he was 
welcomed with huzzas and dismissed with plaudits. The first eighteen 
months of the expedition were spent in the principal cities and coun¬ 
tries of Europe, and in January of 1879 the company embarked from 
Marseilles for the East. The following year was spent in visiting the 
great countries of Asia—India first; then Burmah and Siam; then 
China; and then Japan. In the fall of 1879 the party returned to 
San Francisco, bearing with them the highest tokens of esteem which 
the great nations of the Old World could bestow upon the honored 
representative of the New. 

20. The census of 1880 was undertaken with more system and care 
than ever before in the history of the country. The work was en¬ 
trusted to the general superintendency of Professor Francis A. 
Walker. During the decade the same astounding progress which had 
marked the previous history of the United States was more than ever 
illustrated. In every source of national power the development of 
the country had continued without abatement. The total popula¬ 
tion of the states and territories of the Union now amounted to 
50,155,783—an increase since 1870 of more than a million inhabitants 
a year ! New York was still the leading state, having a population 
of 5,082,171. Nevada was least populous, showing an enumeration 
of but 62,266. Of the 11,597,412 added to the population since the 
census of 1870, 2,814,191 had been contributed by immigration, of 
whom about 85,000 annually came from Germany alone. The num¬ 
ber of cities having a population of over 100,000 inhabitants had 
increased during the decade from fourteen to twenty. The center of 
population had moved westward about fifty miles, and now rested near 
the city of Cincinnati. 

21. The statistics of trade and industry were likewise of a sort to 
gratify patriotism, if not to excite national pride. The current of the 
precious metals which for many years had flowed constantly from the 
United States to foreign countries turned strongly, in 1880, towards 
America. The importation of specie during the year just mentioned 
amounted to $93,034,310, while the exportation of the same during 
the year reached only $17,142,919. During the greater part of the 
period covered by the census abundant crops had followed in almost 
unbroken succession, and the overplus in the great staples peculiar to 
our soil and climate had gone to enrich the country, and to stimulate 


ADMINISTRATIONS OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 485 


to an unusual degree those fundamental industries upon which national 
perpetuity and individual happiness are founded. 

22. During the administration of President Hayes several eminent 
Americans passed from the scene of their earthly activities. On the 
1st of November, 1877, the distinguished Senator, Oliver P. Morton, 
of Indiana, after battling for many years against the deadly en¬ 
croachments of paralysis, died at his home in Indianapolis. Still 
more universally felt was the loss of the great poet and journalist, 
William Cullen Bryant, who, on the 12th of June, 1878, at the ad¬ 
vanced age of eighty-four, passed from among the living. For more 
than sixty years his name had been known and honored wherever the 
English language is spoken. On the 19th of December, in the same 
year, the illustrious Bayard Taylor, who had recently been appointed 
American minister to the German Empire, died suddenly in the city 
of Berlin. His life had been exclusively devoted to literary work; 
and almost every department of letters, from the common tasks of 
journalism to the highest charms of poetry, had been adorned by his 
genius. On the 1st day of November, 1879, Senator Zachariah 
Chandler, of Michigan, one of the organizers of the Republican party 
died suddenly at Chicago; and on the 24th day of February, 1881, 
the distinguished Matt. H. Carpenter, of Wisconsin, after a lingering 
illness, expired at Washington. On the 24th of April, in the same 
year, the noted publisher and author, James T. Fields, died at his 
home in Boston. 


CHAPTER XXV. 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR, 1881-1885. 

TAMES A. GARFIELD, twentieth President of the United States, 
v was born at Orange, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, November 19th, 
1831. He was left in infancy to the care of his mother and to the 
rude surroundings of a backwoods home. Blest with great native en- 
ergy, the boy gathered from country toil a sound constitution, and 
from country schools the rudiments of education. In boyhood his 
services were in frequent demand by the farmers of the neighbor¬ 
hood—for he developed unusual skill as a mechanic. Afterwards he 



486 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



served as a driver and pilot of a canal boat plying the Ohio and 
Pennsylvania canal. At the age of seventeen he attended the High 
School in Chester, and in the fall of 1851 he entered Hiram College. 
In 1854 he entered Williams College, from which, in August of 
1856, he was graduated with honor. He then returned to Ohio, and 
was made first a professor and afterwards president of Hiram College- 
This position he held until the outbreak of the civil war, when he 
left his post to enter the army. 

2. As a soldier, Garfield rapidly rose to distinction, and while still 

in the field he 
was, in 1862, 
elected by the 
people of his 
district to the 
Lower House 
of Congress. 
In 1879 he was 
elected to the 
United States 
Senate, and 
hard upon this 
followed his 
nomination 
and election to 
the presidency. 
American his¬ 
tory has fur¬ 
nished but few 
instances of a 
more steady 
and brilliant 
rise from the 
poverty of an 

obscure boyhood to the most distinguished elective office in the gift 
of mankind. 

3. On the 4th of March, 1881, President Garfield, according to the 
custom, delivered his inaugural address. A retrospect of the progress 
of American civilization during the last quarter of a century was given, 
and the country was congratulated on its high rank among the nations. 
The policy of the executive department of the government, with respect 
to the great questions likely to engross the attention of the people, 


ADMINISTRATIONS OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 487 


was set forth with clearness and precision. The public school 
system of the United States should be guarded with jealous care, the 
old wounds of the South should be healed; the National banking sys¬ 
tem should be maintained; the practice of polygamy should be re¬ 
pressed; Chinese immigration should be curbed by treaty; the equal 
rights of the enfranchised blacks should be asserted and maintained. 

4. On the day following the inauguration the President sent to the 
Senate for confirmation the names of the members of his cabinet. 
The nominations were, for secretary of state, James G. Blaine, of 
Maine; for secretary of the treasury, William Windom, of Minnesota; 
for secretary of war, Robert T. Lincoln, of Illinois; for secretary of the 
navy, William H. Hunt, of Louisiana; for secretary of the interior, 
Samuel J. Kirkwood, of Iowa; for attorney-general, Wayne McVeagh, 
of Pennsylvania; for postmaster-general, Thomas L. James, of New 
York. These nominations were promptly confirmed, and the new 
administration entered upon its course with omens of an auspicious 
future. 

5. The prospects of the new administration were soon darkened with 
political difficulties. A division arose in the ranks of the Republican 
party, threatening the disruption and ruin of that organization. The 
tw r o wings of the Republicans were nicknamed the “ Half-breeds ” and 
the “ Stalwarts: ” the latter, headed by Senator Conkling of New 
York, being the division which had so resolutely supported General 
Grant for the Presidency in the Chicago Convention; the former, led 
by Mr. Blaine, the Secretary of State, and indorsed by the President 
himself^ had control of the government, and were numerically stronger 
than their opponents. The Stalwarts claimed the right of dispensing 
the appointive offices of the Government, after the manner which pre¬ 
vailed for several preceding administrations; that is, the distribution 
of the offices in the several States, under the name of patronage,, by 
the Senators and Representatives of those States in Congress. The 
President, supported by his division of the party, and in general by 
the reform element in politics, insisted on naming the officers in the 
various States according to his own wishes and what he conceived to 
be the fitness of things. 

6. The chief clash between the two influences in the party occurred 
in respect to the offices in New York. The collectorship of customs 
for the port of New York is the best appointive office in the gift of 
the Government. To fill this position the President appointed Judge 
William Robertson, and the appointment was bitterly antagonized by 
the New York Senators, Roscoe Conkling and Thomas C. Platt, who, 


488 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


failing to prevent the confirmation of Robertson, resigned their seats, 
returned to their State, and failed of a reelection. The breach thus 
effected in the Republican ranks was such as to threaten the dismem¬ 
berment of the party. 

7. Such was the condition of affairs at the adjournment of the Sen¬ 
ate in June. A few days afterward the President made arrangements 
to visit Williams College, where his two sons were to be placed at 
school, and to pass a short vacation with his sick wife at the sea-side. 
On the morning of July 2d, in company with Secretary Blaine and a 
few friends, he entered the Baltimore depot at Washington, prepara¬ 
tory to taking the train for Long Branch, New Jersey. A moment 
afterward he was approached by a miserable political miscreant named 
Charles Jules Guiteau, who from behind, and unperceived, came within 
a few feet of the company, drew a pistol and fired upon the chief 
magistrate of the Republic. The aim of the assassin was too well 
taken, and the first shot struck the President centrally in the right 
side of the back, inflicting a dreadful wound. The bleeding chieftain 
was quickly borne away to the executive mansion, and the vile wretch 
who had committed the crime was hurried to prison. 

8. For a week or two the hearts of the American people vibrated 
between hope and fear. The best surgical aid was procured, and bul¬ 
letins were issued daily containing a brief outline of the President's 
condition. The conviction grew day by day that he would ultimately 
recover. Two surgical operations were performed with a view of 
improving his chances for life; but a series of relapses occurred, and 
the President gradually weakened under his sufferings. As a last 
hope he was, on the 6th of September, carefully conveyed from Wash¬ 
ington City to Elberon, where he was placed in a cottage only a few 
yards from the surf. Here, for a brief period, hope again revived; 
but the symptoms were aggravated at intervals, and the patient sank 
day by day. 

9. At half past ten on the evening of September 19th, the anniver¬ 
sary of the battle of Chickamauga, in which President Garfield had 
won his chief military reputation, his vital powers suddenly gave way 
under the destructive influence of blood-poisoning and exhaustion, and 
in a few moments death closed the scene. For eighty days he had 
borne the pain and anguish of his situation with a fortitude and hero¬ 
ism rarely witnessed among men. The dark shadow of the crime 
which had laid him low heightened rather than eclipsed the luster 
and glory of his great and exemplary life. 

10. On the day following this deplorable event Vice-President 


ADMINISTRATIONS OF GARFIEID AND ARTHUR. 489 


Arthur took the oath of office in New York, and immediately repaired 
to Washington. For the fourth time in the history of the American 
Republic the duties of the Presidency had been devolved by death 
upon the man constitutionally provided for such an emergency. The 
hearts of the people, however, clung for a time to the dead rather 
than to the living President. The funeral of Garfield was observed 
first of all at Washington, whither the body was taken and placed in 
state in the rotunda of the Capitol. Here it was viewed by tens of 
thousands of people during the 22d and 23d of September. In his 
life-time the illustrious dead had chosen, as his place of burial, 
Lakeview Cemetery, at Cleveland, Ohio, and thither, on the 24th of 
the month, the remains were conveyed by way of Philadelphia and 
Pittsburgh. As in the case of the dead Lincoln, the funeral proces¬ 
sions and ceremonies were a pageant, exhibiting everywhere the loyal 
respect and love of the American people for him who had so lately 
been their pride. On the 26th of September his body was laid in its 
final resting-place. The day of the burial was observed throughout 
the country in great assemblies gathered from hamlet and town and 
city, all anxious to testify, by some appropriate word or token, their 
sorrow for the great national calamity, and their appreciation of the 
grand example of James A. Garfield’s life. 

11. Chester A. Arthur, called by the sad event to be President of 
the United States, was born in Vernon, Franklin County, Vermont, 
October 5, 1830. He is of Irish descent, and was educated at Union 
College, from which institution he was graduated in 1849. For awhile 
he taught school in his native State, and then came to New York City 
to study law. Here he was soon admitted to the bar, and rapidly 
rose to distinction. During the civil war he was Quartermaster Gen¬ 
eral of the State of New York, a very important and trying office, 
which he filled with great credit to himself and the Government. 
After 1865 he returned to the practice of law, and was appointed 
Collector of Customs for the port of New York in 1871. This posi¬ 
tion he held until July, 1878, when he was removed by President 
Hayes. Again he returned to his law practice, but was soon called 
by the voice of his party to be a standard-bearer in the Presidential 
canvass of 1880. His election to the Vice-Presidency followed, and 
then, by the death of President Garfield, he rose to the post of chief 
honor among the American people. 

12. The assumption of the duties of his high office by President 
Arthur was attended with but little ceremony or formality. On the 
22d of September the oath of office was again administered to him, 



490 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


in the Vice-President’s room in the Capitol, Chief-Justice Waite offi¬ 
ciating. After this, in the presence of a few who were gathered in 
the apartment, he delivered a brief and appropriate address, referring 
in a touching manner to the death of his predecessor. Those pres¬ 
ent— including General Grant, ex-President Hayes, Senator Sher¬ 
man, and his 
brother the 
General of the 
army — then 
paid their re¬ 
spects, and the 
ceremony was 
at an end. 

13. In ac¬ 
cordance with 
custom, the 
members of 
the Cabinet, as 
so recently 
constituted by 
President Gar¬ 
field, immedi¬ 
ately tendered 
their resigna¬ 
tions. These 
Avere not at 
once accepted, 
the President, 
instead, invit- 

CH ESTER A. ARTl-lTR 

ing all the 

members to retain their places as his constitutional advisers. For 
the time all did so, except Mr. Windom, Secretary of the Treasury, 
who AA 7 as succeeded by Judge Charles J. Folger, of New York. Mr. 
MacVeagh, the Attorney General, also resigned a short time after- 
wards, and the President appointed as his successor Hon. Benjamin H. 
BreAVster, of Philadelphia. The next to retire from the Garfield Cab¬ 
inet Avere Mr: Blaine, Secretary of State, and Mr. James, Postmaster 
General, who Avere succeeded in their respective offices by Hon. F. 
T. Frelinghuysen, of NeAV Jersey, and Hon. Timothy O. HoAve, of 
Wisconsin. No disposition to make radical changes in the policy of 
the Government was manifested by the neAv administration, and the 


ADMINISTRATIONS OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 


491 


people generally, without respect to party lines, were well pleased with 
the spirit of him who had so suddenly been called to the chief magis¬ 
tracy of the Union. 

14. It is fortunate that the pen of History is sometimes occupied 
with themes more worthy than the public affairs of the state. In our 
own day, one of the most striking features of civilization is the rapid 
progress in discovery and invention. Especially is this true of the ap¬ 
plication of science to the practical affairs of life. At no other age in 
the history of the world has the knowledge of nature’s laws been so 
rapidly and widely diffused. As a result of this, the means of phys¬ 
ical comfort have been greatly increased. The new life of mankind is 
in a large measure based on science; and, in proportion as the laws of 
the natural world are discovered and applied, it is found that men be¬ 
come great and free and happy. 

15. One of the best examples of the application of scientific discov¬ 
ery to the affairs of every-day life is that of the Telephone. It has 
remained for our day to discover the possibility of transmitting or re¬ 
producing the human voice at a distance of hundreds or even thou¬ 
sands of miles. By means of a simple contrivance, a person in one 
part of the country is enabled to converse with friends in another part, 
as if face to face. The invention of this wonderful instrument is to 
be credited to Professor A. Graham Bell, of Massachusetts, and Elisha 
P. Gray, of Chicago. It should be mentioned also, that Professor A. 
C. Dolbear, of Tufts College, and the great inventor, Edison, have 
succeeded in the production of telephonic instruments. 

16. From the telephone to the Phonograph was but a step. Both 
instruments are based on the same principle of science. The inven¬ 
tion of the phonograph was made in 1877, by Thomas A. Edison, of 
Menlo Park. It is the nature of the instrument to receive and retain 
the wave-lines and figures of sound, Avhether of the human voice or 
some other, and by an ingenious contrivance to reproduce these sounds 
as if they were the original utterance. It is to be regretted that thus 
far the phonograph has proved to be of little or no practical utility. 
A or is it certain that it will ever accomplish the great works which 
fancy has been pleased to predict. 

17. Perhaps the greatest and most valuable invention of the age is 
the Electric Light. The project of using electricity for the pur¬ 
pose of illumination began to be agitated about 1870. Long before 
this time, however, the possibility of electric lighting had been shown 
by the philosopher Gramme, of Paris. About the same time, the 
Russian scientist Jablokoff also succeeded in converting electricity into 


492 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


light. It remained, however, for the great American inventor, Thomas 
A. Edison, to remove the difficulties in the way of electric lighting, 
and to make the invention practical. The systems produced by him 
and others have been sufficiently tested to demonstrate that the old 
methods of illumination must soon be displaced by the electric light. 

18. The last years in the history of our country have been noted for 
the number and character of the great public works which have been 
projected or brought to completion within a limited period. Chief 
among these may be mentioned the great East River Bridge, join¬ 
ing New York with Brooklyn. This structure is the largest of the 
kind in the world, being a suspension bridge with a total length of 
5,989 feet. The span from pier to pier is 1,595 feet, and the estimated 
capacity of resistance is 49,200 tons. The engineer under whose di¬ 
rection the great bridge was constructed was Mr. John A. Roebling, 
who may properly be regarded as the originator of wire suspension 
bridges. Though he himself did not live to see the completion of the 
work which he had planned, the same was taken up and finished by 
his son, Washington A. Roebling, an architect, scarcely less noted than 
his father. 

19. The administration of President Arthur proved to be unevent¬ 
ful. The government pursued the even tenor of its way, and the prog¬ 
ress of the country was unchecked by calamity. In politics there was 
a gradual obliteration of those sharply defined issues which for a quar¬ 
ter of a century had divided the two great parties. Partisan animosity 
in some measure abated, and it was with difficulty that the managers 
were able to direct the people in the political contest of 1884. The 
issue most clearly defined was that of tariff and free trade, and even 
this, when much discussed, tended to break up both the existing po¬ 
litical organizations. The usual agitation of the people, however, 
relative to the Presidency, began at an early date of Arthur’s admin¬ 
istration. Hardly had the crime of Garfield’s murder been committed, 
until the question of Arthur’s successor was raised by the politicians. 

20. During the year 1883 many distinguished men were named for 
the presidential office. The first national convention was that of the 
Greenback-Labor party, held at Indianapolis, in April of 1884. By 
this party, General Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, and Hon. A. 
N. West, of Texas, were put in nomination. The Republican conven¬ 
tion met on the 3d of June, in Chicago, and, after a session of three 
days, closed its labors by the nomination of James G. Blaine, of Maine, 
and General John A. Logan, of Illinois. The Democratic convention 
met in the same city, on the 9th of July, and chose for its standard- 


ADMINISTRATIONS OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 


493 


bearers Grover Cleveland, of New York, and Thomas A. Hendricks, 
of Indiana. These nominations were received with much favor by the 
respective parties, but strong factions in both the Republican and 
Democratic organizations resented the work of the conventions. The 
result showed that the Democratic party had drawn to its banners a 
majority of the American people. Cleveland and Hendricks were 
elected, receiving 219 ballots in the Electoral College, against 182 
votes which were cast for Blaine and Logan. 

21. In the last year of Arthur’s administration the command of the 
army of the United States 
was transferred from Gen¬ 
eral William T. Sher¬ 
man to General Philip 
H. Sheridan. The for¬ 
mer eminent soldier hav¬ 
ing reached the age at 
which, according to an 
Act of Congress, he might 
retire from active service, 
availed himself of the 
provision and laid down 
the command which he 
had so long and honor¬ 
ably held. Nor could it 
be said that the new Gen¬ 
eral to whom the com¬ 
mand of the American 
army was now given was 
less a patriot and soldier 
than his illustrious pre¬ 
decessor. 

22. The recurrence of the birthday of Washington, 1885, was noted 
for the completion of the great monument erected at the Capital in 
honor of the Father of his Country. The cost of the complete struc¬ 
ture was about $1,500,000. The shaft of the monument, exclusive of 
the foundation, is 555 feet in height, being 30 feet higher than the 
Cathedral of Cologne, and 75 feet higher than the pyramid of Cheops. 
The structure is composed of more than 18,000 blocks of stone. One 
hundred and eighty-five memorial stones are set at different places in 
the monument. The dedication occurred on the 21st of February, 
1885. The ceremonies were of a most imposing character. A pro- 



GENERAL PHILIP H SHERIDAN. 






494 


HIS TOR Y OF THE UNITED ST A TES. 


cession of more than 6,000 persons passed from the site of the monu¬ 
ment along Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol, while salutes were 
fired from the batteries of the Navy-yard. The exercises were con¬ 
cluded in the hall of the House of Representatives, where a great 
throng had assembled to do honor to the memory of him who was 
" first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” 


CHAPTER XXVI. 


CLEVELAND'S ADMINISTRATION, 1885-1889. 

T HE new President was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1885. 
Perhaps the history of the country has furnished no other exam¬ 
ple of so rapid a rise to 
great distinction. Grov¬ 
er Cleveland, twenty- 
second President of the 
United States, was born 
at Caldwell, New Jer¬ 
sey, March 18th, 1837. 
With his father he re¬ 
moved in 1840 to Fay¬ 
etteville, New York. 
Here the youth grew to 
manhood. His educa¬ 
tion was obtained in the 
common schools and 
academies of the neigh¬ 
borhood. In 1857 he 
removed to New York 
City, and became a stu¬ 
dent of law. In 1859 
he was admitted to the 
bar, and four years af¬ 
terwards was appointed 
Assistant District Attor¬ 
ney for Erie County. In 1869 he was elected Sheriff of th£ same 
county; and in 1881 he was chosen Mayor of Buffalo. In 1882 he was 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 




CLE VELAND'S ADMINISTRA TION. 


495 


elected Governor of New York, receiving for that office a plurality of 
more than 190,000 votes. Before his term of office had expired, he 
was called by the voice of his party to be its standard-bearer in the 
presidential campaign of 1884, in which he was again successful. 

2. On the day following his inauguration, President Cleveland sent 
to the Senate the names of those whom he had selected for places in 
his cabinet. The nominations were as follows: For secretary of state, 
Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware; for secretary of the treasury, Daniel 
Manning, of New York; for secretary of the interior, Lucius Q. C. 
Lamar, of Mississippi; for secretary of war, William C. Endicott, of 
Massachusetts; for secretary of the navy, William C. Whitney, of New 
York; for postmaster-general, William F. Vilas, of Wisconsin; for 
attorney-general, Augustus H. Garland, of Arkansas. 

3. The last months of Arthur’s and the first of Cleveland’s admin¬ 
istration were noted for The International Cotton Exposition, 
at New Orleans. This, after the Centennial Exposition of 1876, was 
the greatest display of the kind ever held in the United States. The 
exposition extended from December of 1884 to June of 1885, and was 
daily attended by thousands of visitors from all parts of the United 
States and from many foreign countries. The display was varied and 
full of interest. Intended in the first place to exhibit the wonderful 
resources of the South in her peculiar products, the exhibition was en¬ 
larged to include all branches of production and every species of mech¬ 
anism and art. Among the incidental benefits of the Exposition may 
be mentioned the increased intercourse and consequent friendliness of 
the people of the Northern and Southern States. 

4. The first year of Cleveland’s administration was uneventful. 
Public affairs were administered in much the same manner as be¬ 
fore. The great question practically before the President was that 
of the Reform of the Civil Service. In attempting this work, 
that is, in the endeavor to substitute a new series of rules for ap¬ 
pointment to office, by which the persons appointed should be 
selected rather for their fitness than for their party services, the 
President was greatly hampered and embarrassed. He found that 
the old forces, which had so long held sway in American politics, 
were as active as ever, and that the institution of a reform was 
almost impossible under existing conditions. His appointments to 
office were in the meantime watched with great interest by both 
parties, and sharply criticised by the Republicans, as not being in 
accordance with the principles on which Cleveland had been elected 
to the Presidency. It was not desired by either party that they 

32 


496 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


should be so. The Democratic office-hunters of the country were 
too anxious to secure the places which they had won at the polls, 
to permit the President to act with freedom in the premises; and 
they of the opposite party foresaw that, if a system of genuine 
reform should be instituted, the overthrow of Cleveland at the end 
of his term would be impossible. 

5. The first great national event of the Cleveland administration, 
that is, the first event involving the interests of American society, 
was that of the Labor Agitations, which broke out in the spring of 
1886. It were difficult to make an adequate statement of the causes 
of these serious troubles. It was not until after the Civil War that 
the first symptoms appeared of a renewal in the Hew World of the 
struggle which has been long going on in Europe between Capital 
and Labor. It had been hoped that such a conflict would never 
begin in America. The first difficulties of this sort in our country 
appeared in the mining regions, and in the factories of the East¬ 
ern States. The agitation soon spread to the West. As early as 
1867 the peculiar method of action called “ striking,” began among 
the laborers of the country. An account of the great railroad 
strike of 1877 has already been presented (pp. 478, 479). The years 
following this event were seasons of unusual plenty in production, 
and the troubles were not renewed. 

6. From 1883 to 1886 a series of bad crops brought on a revival 
of the labor troubles. Meanwhile a speculative mania had taken 
possession of the American markets. Large amounts of capital 
had been turned from legitimate production to the buying and 
selling of margins. Stagnation ensued in business. Stocks de¬ 
clined in value, manufactories were closed, and the difficulty of 
obtaining employment was greatly enhanced. At the same time 
monopolies sprang up and flourished, and, coincident with this, 
American labor discovered the salutary but dangerous power 
of combination. A rage for organizing labor appeared in all 
departments of industry; and the arrogant front of monopoly was 
opposed by the insurrectionary front of the working classes. 

7. In the meantime a large mass of ignorant foreign labor had 
been imported into the United States." The manufactories and 
workshops were filled with the worst elements from several 
European kingdoms. The classes thus brought in were un-Amer¬ 
ican in every respect. Communistic theories of society and 
anarchic views of government began to clash with the more so¬ 
ber Republican opinions and practices of the people. To all this 


CLEVELAND'S ADMINISTRA TION. 


497 


were added the evils and abuses incident to the wage-system of 
labor. 

8. When the trade season of 1886 opened, a series of strikes and 
labor troubles broke out in several parts of the country. It was 
the cities and towns which were most involved in these agitations. 
The first serious conflict was on what is known as the Gould Sys¬ 
tem of Railways in the south-west. A single workman, belonging 
to the Knights of Labor, and employed on a branch of the Texas 
and Pacific Railway, at that time under a receivership and therefore 
beyond the control of Jay Gould and his subordinates, was discharged 
from his place: This action was resented by the Knights, and the 
laborers on a great part of the Gould System were ordered to 
strike. The movement was, for a season, successful, and the 
transportation of freights from St. Louis to the south-west, ceased. 
Gradually, however, other workmen were substituted for the 
striking Knights; the movement of freights was resumed, and the 
strike ended in comparative failure; but this end was not reached 
until a severe riot in East St. Louis had occasioned the sacrifice 
of several innocent lives. 

9. Far more alarming Was the outbreak in Chicago. In that 
city the socialistic and anarchic elements were sufficiently powerful 
to present a bold front to the authorities. Processions hearing red 
flags and banners, with communistic devices and mottoes, fre¬ 
quently paraded the streets, and were addressed by demagogues 
who avowed themselves the open enemies of society and the 
existing order. On the 4th of May, 1886, a vast crowd of this 
reckless material collected in a place called the Ilaymarket, and 
were about to begin the usual inflammatory proceedings, when a 
band of policemen, mostly officers, drew near, with the evident 
purpose of controlling or dispersing the meeting. 

10. A terrible scene ensued. Dynamite bombs were thrown liom 
the crowd and exploded among the officers, several of whom weie 
blown to pieces, and others shockingly mangled. The mob was, 
in turn, attacked by the police, and many of the insurgents weie 
shot down. Order was presently restored in the city; several of the 
leading anarchists were arrested on the charge of inciting to mur¬ 
der, were tried, condemned, and four of them executed. Measuies 
were taken to prevent the recurrence of such tragedies as had been 
witnessed in the Haymarket Square. On the day following the 
Chicago riot, a similar, though less dangerous, outbreak occurred 
in MUwaukee; but in this city the insurrectionary movement was 


498 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


suppressed without serious loss of life. The attention of the 
American people—let us hope to some good end—was called, as 
never before, to the dangerous relations existing between the upper 
and nether sides of our municipal populations. 

11. The summer of 1886 is memorable on account of the great 
natural catastrophe, known as the Charleston Earthquake. On 
the night of the 31st of August, at ten minutes before ten o’clock, 
it was discovered at Washington City, and at several other points 
where weather and signal stations were established, that commu¬ 
nications with Charleston, South Carolina, were suddenly cut off. 
Inquiries were sent out relative to the origin of the shock which 
had at that moment been felt, with varying degrees of violence, 
throughout nearly the whole country east of the Mississippi and 
south of the Great Lakes. In a few minutes it was found that no 
telegraphic communication from any side could be had with Charles¬ 
ton, and it was at once perceived that that city had suffered from 
the convulsion. 

12. Measures were hastily devised for further investigation, and 
the result showed that the worst apprehensions were verified. 
Without a moment’s warning the city had been rocked and rent to 
its very foundations. Hardly a building in the limits of Charles¬ 
ton, or in the country surrounding, had escaped serious injury, 
and perhaps one-half of all were in a state of semi-wreck or 
total ruin. 

13. Many scientists hurried to the scene and made a careful 
study of the phenomena, with a view of contributing something 
to the knowledge of mankind. One or two points were determined 
with tolerable accuracy. One was, that the point of origin, called 
the epicenter , of the great convulsion, had been at a place about 
twenty miles from Charleston, and that the motion of the earth 
immediately over this center had been nearly up and down, that 
is, vertical. A second point tolerably well established was, that 
the isoseismic lines, or lines of equal disturbance, might be drawn 
around the epicenter in circles very nearly concentric, and that 
the circle of greatest disturbance was at some distance from the 
center. Still a third item of knowledge tolerably well established 
was that away from the epicenter—as illustrated in the ruins of 
Charleston—the agitation of the earth was not in the nature of 
a single shock, or convulsion, as a dropping or sliding of the 
region to one side, but rather a series of very quick and violent 
oscillations, by which the central country of the disturbance 


CLEVELAND’S ADMINTSTRATION. 


499 


was, in the course of some five minutes, settled considerably to 
seaward. The investigation made by the men of science did not, 
however, lead to the discovery of the primary cause of earthquakes, 
or of any means of protection against such catastrophes. 

14. The whole coast in the central region of the disturbance 
was modified with respect to the sea, and the ocean itself was thrown 
into turmoil for leagues from the shore. The people in the city 
were in a state of the utmost consternation. They fled from their 
falling houses to the public squares and parks, and far into the 
country. Afraid to return into the ruins, they threw up tents 
and light booths for protection, and abode for weeks away from 
their homes. The convulsion was by far the greatest that this 
continent has experienced within the historical epoch. Nothing 
before in the limits of our knowledge has been at all comparable 
with it in extent and violence, except the great earthquake of New 
Madrid, in 1811. 

15. The disaster to Charleston served to bring out some of the 
better qualities of our civilization. Personal assistance and contri¬ 
butions from all quarters poured in for the support and encourage¬ 
ment of the afflicted people. For several weeks a series of dimin¬ 
ishing shocks continued to terrify the citizens and paralyze the 
efforts at restoration. But it was discovered in the course of time 
that these shocks were only the dying-away of the great convulsion, 
and that they gave cause for hope of entire cessation rather than 
continued alarm. In the course of a few months the debris was 
cleared away, business was resumed, and the people were again safe 
in their homes. 

16. On the 4th of March, 1887, the second session of the Forty- 
ninth Congress expired. The work of the body had not been so 
fruitful of results as had been desired and anticipated by the 
friends of the government; but some important legislation had 
been effected. On the question of the tariff nothing of value was 
accomplished. A measure of Revenue Reform had been brought 
forward at an early date in the session, but, owing to the opposition 
of that wing of the Democratic party headed by Hon. Samuel J. 
Randall, and committed to the doctrine of protection, as well as to 
the antagonism of the Republican majority in the Senate, the act 
failed of adoption. By the beginning of 1887, it became apparent 
that no legislation looking to any actual reform in the current 
revenue system of the United States, could be carried through 
Congress. 


500 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


17. On the question of Extending the Pension List, however, 
the case was different. A great majority of both parties favored 
such measures as looked to the increase of benefits to the soldiers. 
A-t the first, only a limited number of pensions had been granted, 
and these only to actually disabled or injured veterans of the 
War for the Union. With the lapse of time it became more and 
more important to each of the parties to secure and hold the 
soldier vote, without which it was felt that neither could maintain 
ascendency in the government. A genuine patriotic sentiment 
and gratitude of the Nation to its defenders coincided in this respect 
with political ambition. The Arrears of Pensions Act, making 
up to those who were already recipients of pensions such amounts 
as would have accrued if the benefit had dated from the time of 
disability, instead of from the time of granting the pension, was 
passed in 1879; and at the same time the list of pensioners was 
greatly enlarged. 

18. The measure presented in the Fiftieth Congress was de¬ 
signed to extend the pension list so as to include all regularly 
enlisted and honorably discharged soldiers of the Civil War who 
had become in whole or in part dependent upon the aid of others for 
their maintenances The measure was known as the Dependent 
Pensions Bill. Many opposed the enactment of a law which ap¬ 
peared to give the bounty of the government to the deserving and 
the undeserving alike, and to compel the worthy recipients of 
pensions to rank themselves with those who had gone into the 
army for pay, and had been brought to want through improv¬ 
idence. A majority was easily obtained for the measure in both 
Houses of Congress, and the act was passed. President Cleveland, 
however, interposed his veto; the effort in the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives to pass the measure over his opposition, failed, and the 
proposed law fell to the ground. 

19. The most important and noted legislation of the session was 
the act known as the Inter-State Commerce Bill. For some 
fifteen years complaints against the methods and management of 
the railways of the United States had been heard on many sides, 
and in cases not a few, the complaints had originated in actual 
abuses, some of which were willful, but most were merely incidental 
to the development of a system so vast, and, on the whole, so 
beneficial to the public. In such a state of affairs the lasting ben¬ 
efit is always forgotten in the accidental hurt. A large class of 
people became clamorous that Congress should take the railways 


CLEVELAND'S ADMINISTRATL0N. 


501 


as 


b\ the throat, and compel them to accept a system of uniformity ; 
it respected all charges for service rendered. 

20. The Inter-State Commerce Bill was accordingly prepared, 
with a multitude ot clauses requiring a Commission of lawyers 
for their interpretation. It was enacted that all freight carriage 
across State lines within the Union should be at the same rate per 
hundred for all distances, and between all places, and under sub¬ 
stantially the same conditions; and that passenger fares should be 
uniform tor all persons. In the very nature of things, railways 
are unable to carry freight at as small a rate per hundred, or 
passengers at as small a charge per mile, between places approximate 
as between places at great distances. In some regions it is many 
times more expensive to build and operate a railroad than in others. 
To carry one of these great thoroughfares over the Rocky 
Mountains is a very different thing from stretching a similar track 
across the level prairies of Illinois. In the nature of the case, 
competition will do its legitimate work at an earlier date, and more 
thoroughly, between great cities than between unimportant points, 
however near together. But these natural conditions were over¬ 
looked in the bill, and it became a law. It is safe to say that no 
other measure ever adopted by the American Congress has been so 
difficult of application. 

21. The last years of the Republic have been noted for a revival 
of Interest in the Civil War. The memory of that conflict has 
been preserved in a series of authoritative publications, by some 
of the leading participants. This work, so important to the right 
understanding of the great struggle for and against the Union, 
was undertaken by General William T. Sherman, who, in 1875, 
published his Memoirs , narrating the story of that part of the 
war in which he had been a leader. This had been preceded by 
the history of the War Between the States , by Alexander H. 
Stephens, late Vice-President of the Confederacy. In 1884 Gen¬ 
eral Grant began the publication of a series of war articles in the 
Century Magazine, which attracted universal attention, and which 
led to the preparation and publication of his Memoirs , in 1885-86. 
Similar contributions have more recently been published by Gen¬ 
erals George B. McClellan, John A. Logan, and Philip H. Sheri¬ 
dan. Other eminent commanders of the Union and Confederate 
armies have recorded their personal recollections of the conflict 
in which they bore a part, in an able and impartial literature of 
the war. 


502 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


22. This revival, after a lapse of a quarter of a century, of 
patriotic memories, became an element in the political history 
of Cleveland’s administration. There was a persistent effort by 
one of the political parties to use the war spirit for its own 
advantage; and the President, by some of his acts, gave oppor¬ 
tunity for such advantage to be taken of his policy. The sessions 
of Congress, from 1885 to 1888, were’ noted for the excessive 
number of Private Pension Bills which were passed. Many 
of these were doubtless devoid of merit. The President, in the 
exercise of his prerogative, vetoed such bills as he thought ill- 
advised, or against the public interest. In a number of his veto 
messages he made such references to the character of the bills, and 
to the unworthiness of the applications, as to furnish occasion for 
much bitter comment on his course. 

23. It happened, also, that a measure prepared by the Secretary 
of War was approved by the President, for the restoration to the 
various States, and ultimately to the regiments from which they 
had been taken, of the Battle Flags of the Civil War. The most 
of such trophies had been captured from the Confederate armies. 
The President, without looking carefully into the matter, gave his 
assent to the order for the return of the flags in possession of the 
government; but presently revoked the order, allowing the old 
trophies to remain in keeping of the War Department, as before. 
The proposed measure, however, created much excitement in some 
parts of the country, and gave the opponents of the administration 
a second advantage on the score of the alleged unpatriotic course 
of the President. Several minor incidents were added of the same 
character, the whole constituting a body of charges used with 
much effect throughout the Northern States in the ensuing Presi¬ 
dential election. 

24. Still another circumstance relating to the Bebellion belongs 
to this period of our country’s history; namely, the death, within a 
limited period, of nearly all the great leaders in the Civil War. It 
was as though a whole generation of military captains and great 
civilians had been swept away. It can not be doubted that the 
hardships and intense excitements to which the participants were 
subjected, during the four years’ conflict, had impaired the vitality 
of nearly all who were seriously engaged in the war. 

25. In the spring of 1885 it became known that General Ulysses 
S. Grant was stricken with a fatal malady. The announcement 
at once drew to the General and ex-President the interest and 


CLEVELAND'S AD MINIS TILL TIO N. 503 

sympathies of the whole American people. The hero of Vicksburg 
and Appomattox sank under the ravages of a malignant cancer, 
which had fixed itself in his throat. On the 23d of July, 1885, he 
expired at a summer cottage on Mount McGregor, New York. 
Ills last days were hallowed by the love of the nation which he had 
so gloriously defended. No funeral west of the Atlantic—not even 
that of Lincoln—was more universally observed. The procession 
in New York City was perhaps as imposing a pageant as was ever 
exhibited in honor of the dead, with the possible exception of the 
funeral of the Duke of Wellington, in London. On the 8th of 
August, the body of General Grant was laid to rest in Riverside 
Park, overlooking the Hudson. There, on the summit from which 
may be seen the great river and the metropolis of the nation, is 
the tomb of him whose courage and magnanimity in war will for- 
e\ ei give him rank with the few master spirits who have honored 
the human race, and changed the course of history. 

26. Within less than three months from the funeral of Grant, 
another distinguished Union General fell. On the 29th of October, 
General George B. McClellan, first commander of the Army of the 
Potomac, at one time General-in-Chief, subsequently Democratic 
candidate for the Presidency, and at a later period Governor of 
New Jersey, died at his home at St. Cloud, in that State. His 
conspicuous part during the first two years of the Civil War, his 
abilities as a soldier and as a citizen, and his unblemished character 
as a man, combined to heighten the estimate of his life, both 
public and private. After another brief interval, a third great 
military leader fell, in the person of General Winfield S. Hancock, 
Senior Major General of the American Army. During the War 
he had won for himself the title of “ Hero of Gettysburg.” 
Afterwards, in 1880, he was the Democratic candidate for the 
Presidency against General Garfield. In the meantime, within a 
brief period, Generals Irwin McDowell, Ambrose E. Burnside, 
Joseph Hooker, and George G. Meade, each of whom, in a critical 
period of the War, had commanded the Army of the Potomac, 
passed away. Before the close of 1886 Major-General John A. Lo¬ 
gan, greatest of the volunteer commanders, who, without previous 
military education, won for themselves distinguished honors in 
the War for the Union, fell sick and died at his home, called 
Calumet Place, in Washington City. At the outbreak of the 
War he had resigned his seat in Congress, joined the first ad¬ 
vance of the Union Army, and fought in the Battle of Bull Run. 


504 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Subsequently, be bad risen to tlie place of United States Senator 
from Illinois, and in 1884 was the Republican candidate for the 
Vice-Presidency. 

27. In the meantime, several distinguished civilians had passed 
away—men who, like the military heroes, had borne a great part 
in public affairs at the epoch of the Civil War. On the 25th of 
November, 1885, Vice-President Thomas A. Hendricks, after what 
was supposed to be a trifling illness of a single day, died suddenly, 
at his home in Indianapolis. His life had been one of singular 
purity, and the amenities of his character were conspicuous in the 
stormy arena of American politics. His death was soon followed 
by that of Horatio Seymour, of New York. On the 12tli of Feb¬ 
ruary, 1886, this distinguished citizen, who had been Governor of 
the Empire State, and a candidate for the Presidency against Gen¬ 
eral Grant, died at his home in Utica. Still more distinguished in 
reputation and ability was Samuel J. Tilden, also of New York, 
who died at his home, called Greystone, at Yonkers, near New 
York City, on the 4th of August, 1886. Mr. Tilden had made a 
great impression on the political thought of the epoch. He had 
acquired within his own party an influence and ascendency far 
greater than that of any other statesman of his times. His intel¬ 
lectual force could not be doubted, nor could it be claimed that he 
failed to apply his faculties assiduously to the greatest political 
questions of the age. He was essentially a public man, and in 
his last days prepared a famous paper on the Coast and Harbor 
Defenses of the United States , which led to a wide discussion of 
the question and to the legislation of the Forty-ninth Congress 
on that important subject. 

28. To this list of recent deaths must be added the illustrious 
name of Henry Ward Beecher, to whom, with little reservation, 
must be assigned the first place among our orators and philan¬ 
thropists. Nor is it likely that his equal in most of the sublime 
qualities of manhood will soon be seen again on the great stage 
of life. His personality was so large and striking as to constitute 
the man a class by himself. He had the happy fortune to retain 
his faculties unimpaired to the close of his career. On the evening 
of the 5tli of March, 1887, at his home in Brooklyn, he sank down 
under a stroke of apoplexy. He was nearing the close of his 
seventy-fourth year. He lived until the morning of the 8th, and 
quietly entered the shadows. He was followed to the grave by the 
common eulogium of mankind, and every circumstance of his 


CLEVELAND'S ADMINISTRATION. 


505 


passing away showed that he had occupied the supreme place among 
men of his class in America. 

29. On the 18tli of April, 1888, at the Hoffman House, New York 
City, Roscoe Conkling, ex-Senator of the United States, died after 
a brief and painful illness. A local inflammation, brought on by 
exposure to the most violent snow-storm with which New York 
had been visited within the memory of man, extended to his brain 
and caused his death. He had reached the age of fifty-nine years. 
Few men in America have led a more stormy career. During six 
years of service in the House of Representatives, and afterwards in 
the Senate of the United States, he sought and won leadership by 
constant battle, contention, and antagonism. Twice was he re¬ 
elected Senator of the United States. In 1880, he led the forces 
of General Grant in the Chicago Convention. After the accession 
of Garfield to the Presidency, he broke with the administration, 
and suddenly resigned from the Senate, living thenceforth the life 
of a private citizen, in New York City. For many years he was 
the rival of Mr. Blaine in the leadership of the Republican party. 
His talents rose to the region of genius; and his presence was an 
inspiration to his friends and a terror to his enemies. 

80. On the 23d of March, 1888, Morrison R. Waite, Chief-Justice 
of the United States, died at his home in Washington City. The 
event justifies a few paragraphs relative to the history of the great 
tribunal over which Judge Waite presided during the last fourteen 
years of his life. 

31. In the formation of the Constitution of the United States, it 
was intended that the three general departments of the Govern¬ 
ment should be of equal rank and influence. In the actual working 
of our national system, however, the Executive and Legislative 
departments have predominated over the Judicial branch; and in 
the popular estimate the Supreme Court is of small importance 
as compared with the Presidency and Congress. This disesteem of 
the judiciary is not justified by a broader view of the subject. The 
importance of our great national Court in determining the final 
validity of all legislation, can hardly he overestimated. The Supreme 
Bench is the only immovable breakwater against the unscrupulous 
spirit of party. It is fortunate that the ofifoes of our Chief-Justices, 
and of the associate Justiceships, are appointive, and are thus 
removed from the passion of partisan elections. It may he of in¬ 
terest to glance at some of the vicissitudes through which the 
Supreme Court has passed since its organization, in 1789. 


506 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


32. The Court was first instituted by the appointment of John 
Jay as Chief-Justice, who held the office until 1794, when he gave 
place first to John Rutledge, who was not confirmed, and, in 
1796, to Oliver Ellsworth. The latter presided over the Court 
until, in 1800, the infirmities of age compelled his resignation. 
Then came the long and honorable ascendency of Chief-Justice 
John Marshall, who held the office from his appointment, in 1801, 
to his death, in 1835. This was the Golden Age of the Supreme 
Court. From 1835 to 1837 there was a vacancy in the chief- 
justiceship, occasioned by the disagreement of President Jackson 
and the Senate of the United States; but at the latter date the 
President secured the confirmation of Judge Roger B. Taney as 
Chief-Justice, who entered upon his long term of twenty-seven 
years. It was his celebrated decision in the case of the negro, 
Dred Scott, relative to the status of the slave race in America, 
that applied the torch and lighted the flames of the Civil War. 

33. At the death of Chief-Justice Taney, in 1864, President 
Lincoln appointed as his successor Salmon P. Chase, recently Sec¬ 
retary of the Treasury, and author of most of the great financial 
measures and expedients by which the national credit had been 
preserved during the Rebellion. His official term extended to his 
death, in 1873, and covered the period when the important issues 
arising from the Civil War were under adjudication. To Chief- 
Justice Chase fell, also, by virtue of his office, the duty of presiding 
at the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson. In 1874 
the appointment of Morrison R. Waite as Chief-Justice was made 
by President Grant; and the death of this able jurist devolved on 
President Cleveland and the Senate the duty of naming his suc¬ 
cessor. Judge Melville W. Fuller, of Chicago, was appointed, and 
confirmed on the 30th of April, 1888. 

34. During the whole of Cleveland’s administration, the public 
mind was swayed and excited by the movements of politics. The 
universality of partisan newspapers, the combination in their 
columns of all the news of the world, with the invectives, misrep¬ 
resentations, and countercharges of party leaders, kept political 
questions constantly uppermost to the detriment of social progress 
and industrial interests. Scarcely had President Cleveland entered 
upon his office as chief magistrate when the question of the suc¬ 
cession to the Presidency was agitated. The echoes of the elec¬ 
tion of 1884 had not died away before the rising murmur of that 
of 1888 was heard. 


CLEVELAND’S AI)MIX 1STRA TLON. 


507 


35. By the last year of the current administration it was seen 
that there would be no general break-up of the existing parties. 
It was also perceived that the issues between them must be made, 
rather than found in the existing state of affairs. The sentiment 
in the United States in favor of the Constitutional prohibition 
of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors had become 
somewhat extended and intensified since the last quadrennial 
election. But the discerning eye might perceive that the real issue 
was between the Republican and Democratic parties, and that the 
questions involved were to be rather those of the past than of the 
future. 

36. One issue, however, presented itself which had a living and 
practical relation to affairs, and that was the question of Protec¬ 
tion to American Industry. Since the campaign of 1884, the 
agitation had been gradually extended. At the opening of the 
session, in 1887, the President, in his annual message to Congress, 
departed from all precedent, and devoted the whole document to 
the discussion of the single question of a Reform of the Revenue 
System of the United States. The existing rates of duty on im¬ 
ported articles of commerce had so greatly augmented the income 
of the Government that a large surplus had accumulated, and was 
still accumulating, in the treasury of the United States. This fact 
was made the basis of the President’s argument in favor of a new 
system of revenue, or at least an ample reduction in the tariff 
rates under the old. It was immediately charged by the Republi¬ 
cans that the project in question meant the substitution of the 
system of Free Trade in the United States as against the system 
of protective duties. The question thus involved was made the 
bottom issue in the Presidential campaign of 1888. 

37. As to the nominees of the various parties, it was from the 
first a foregone conclusion that Mr. Cleveland would be nominated 
for re-election by the Democrats. The result justified the expecta¬ 
tion. The Democratic National Convention was held in St. Louis, 
on the 5th day of June, 1888, and Mr. Cleveland was re-nominated 
by acclamation. For the Vice-Presidential nomination there was a 
considerable contest; but, after some balloting, the choice fell on 
ex-Senator Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio. The Republican National 
Convention was held in Chicago, on the 19th day of June. Many 
candidates were ardently pressed upon the body, and the contest 
was long and spirited. It was believed, up to the time of the 
Convention, that Mr. Blaine, who was evidently the favorite of a 


508 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


great majority, would be again nominated for the Presidency. But 
the antagonisms which that statesman had awakened in his own 
party made it imprudent to bring him forward again as the nom¬ 
inee. His name was accordingly not presented to the Convention. 
The most prominent candidates were Senator John Sherman, of 
Ohio; Judge Walter Q. Gresham, of Chicago; Chau ncy M. DePew, 
of New York; ex-Governor Russel A. Alger, of Michigan ; ex-Sena- 
tor Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana; and Senator William B. Alli¬ 
son, of Iowa. The voting was continued to the eighth ballot, when 
the choice fell upon Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana. In the even¬ 
ing, Levi P. Morton, of New York, was nominated for the Vice- 
Presidency on the first ballot. 

38. In the meantime, the Prohibition party had held its National 
Convention at Indianapolis, and on the 30th of May, had nom¬ 
inated for the Presidency, General Clinton B. Fisk, of New Jersey, 
and for the Vice-Presidency, John A. Brooks, of Missouri. The 
Democratic platform declared for a reform of the revenue system 
of the United States, and re-affirmed the principle of adjusting the 
tariff on imports with strict regard to the actual needs of govern¬ 
mental expenditure. The Republican platform declared also for a 
reform of the tariff’ schedule, but at the same time stoutly affirmed 
the maintenance of the protective system as such, as a part of the 
permanent policy of the United States. Both parties deferred to 
the patriotic sentiment of the country in favor of the soldiers, 
their rights and interests, and both endeavored, by the usual 
incidental circumstances of the hour, to gain the advantage of the 
other before the American people. The Prohibitionists entered 
the campaign on the distinct proposition that the manufacture and 
sale of intoxicating liquors should be prohibited throughout the 
United States, by Constitutional amendment. To this was added 
a clause in favor of extending the right of suffrage to women. 

39. As the canvass progressed during the summer and autumn 
of 1888, it became evident that the result was in doubt. The 
contest was exceedingly close. As in 1880 and 1884, the critical 
States were New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Indiana. 
In all of the other Northern States the Republicans were almost 
certain to win, while the Democrats were equally certain of suc¬ 
cess in all the South. In the last weeks of the campaign, General 
Harrison grew in favor, and his party gained perceptibly to the 
close. The result showed success for the Republican candidate. 
He received 233 electoral votes, against 168 votes for Mr. Cleveland. 


CLEVELAND'S ADMINISTRATION. 


509 


The latter, however, appeared to a better advantage on the popular 
count, having a considerable majority over General Harrison. 
General Fisk, the Prohibition candidate, received nearly three 
hundred thousand votes; hut under the system of voting, no 
electoral vote of any State was obtained for him in the so-called 
“ College,” by which the actual choice is made. As soon as the 
result was known, the excitement attendant upon the campaign 
subsided, and political questions gave place to other interests. 

40. The last days of Cleveland’s administration and of the Fif¬ 
tieth Congress were signalized by the admission into the Union 
of Four New States, making the number forty-two. Since the 
incoming of Colorado, in 1876, no State had been added to the 
Republic. Meanwhile the tremendous tides of population had 
continued to flow to the west and north-west, rapidly filling up 
the great Territories. Of these the greatest was Dakota, with its 
area of 150,932 square miles. In 1887 the question of dividing 
the Territory by a line running east and west was agitated, and 
the measure finally prevailed. Steps were taken by the people of 
both sections for admission into the Union. Montana, with hei 
145,776 square miles of territory, had meanwhile acquired a suf¬ 
ficient population; and Washington Territory, with its area of 
69,994 square miles, also knocked for admission. In the closing 
days of the Fiftieth Congress a bill was passed raising all of 
these four Territories—South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, 
and Washington—to the plane of Statehood. The Act contem¬ 
plated the adoption of State Constitutions, and a proclamation of 
admission by the next President. It thus happened that the honor 
of bringing in this great addition to the States of the Union was 
divided between the outgoing and incoming administrations. 

41. Another Act of Congress was also of national importance. 
Hitherto the government had been administered through seven 
departments, at the head of each of which was placed a Cabinet 
officer, the seven together constituting the advisers of the Presi¬ 
dent. No provision for such an arrangement exists in the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States; but the statutes of the Nation 
provide for such a system as most in accordance with the repub¬ 
lican form of government. Early in 1889, a measure was brought 
forward in Congress and adopted, for the institution of a new 
department, to be called the Department of Agriculture. Prac¬ 
tically the measure involved the elevation of what had previously 
been an Agricultural Bureau in the Department of the Interior, 


510 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


to the rank of a Cabinet office. Among foreign nations France 
has been conspicuous for the patronage which the Goverment has 
given to the agricultural pursuits of that country. Hitherto in 
the United States, though agriculture has been the greatest of all 
the producing interests of the people, it has been neglected for 
more political and less useful departments of American life and 
enterprise. By this act of Congress, the Cabinet offices were in¬ 
creased in number to eight instead of seven. 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

HARRISON’S ADMINISTRATION, 1S89 - 

B EXJAMIX HARRIS OX, twenty-third President of the United 
States, was born at Xorth Bend, Ohio, on the 20th of August, 
1833. He is the son of John Scott Harrison, a prominent citizen 
of his native State; grandson of President William Henry Har¬ 
rison; great-grandson of Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Decv 
laration of Independence. In countries where attention is paid 
to honorable lineage, the circumstances of General Harrison’s de¬ 
scent would be considered of much importance; but in America 
little attention is paid to one’s ancestry, and more to himself. 

2. Harrison’s early life was passed, as that of other American 
boys, in attendance at school, and at home duties on the farm. 
He was a student at the institution called Farmers’ College, for 
two years. Afterwards, he attended Miami University, at Oxford, 
Ohio, and was graduated therefrom in June, 1852. He took 
in marriage the daughter of Dr. John W. Scott, President of the 
University. After a course of study, he entered the profession of 
law, removing to Indianapolis, and establishing himself in that 
city. With the outbreak of the War, he became a soldier of the 
Union, and rose to the rank of Brevet Brigadier-General of Vol¬ 
unteers. Before the close of the War, he was elected Reporter of 
the decisions of the Supreme Court of Indiana. 

3. In the period following the Civil War, General Harrison rose 
to distinction as a civilian. In 1876, he was the unsuccessful can¬ 
didate of the Republican party for Governor of Indiana. In 1881 
he was elected to the United States Senate, where he won the rep¬ 
utation of a leader and statesman. In 1884, his name was promi- 



HARRISON’S ADMINISTRATION. 


511 




nently mentioned in connection with the Presidential nomination 
ot his party, but Mr. Blaine was successful. After the lapse of 
four years, however, it was found at Chicago that General Har- 
rison, more than any 
other, combined in him¬ 
self all the elements ot* 
a successful candidate; 
and the event justified 
the choice of the par¬ 
ty in making him the 
standard-bearer in the 
ensuing campaign. 

4. General Harrison 
was, in accordance with 
the usages of the Gov¬ 
ernment, inaugurated 
President on the 4th of 
March, 1889. He had 
succeeded better than 
any of his predecessors 
in keeping his own 
counsels during the in- 

. - , . . BENJAMIN HARRISON. 

tenm between his elec¬ 
tion and the inauguration. No one had discerned his purposes, 
and all waited with interest the expressions of his Inaugural Ad¬ 
dress. In that document he set forth the policy which he should 
favor as the chief executive, recommending the same general meas¬ 
ures which the Republican party had advocated during the cam¬ 
paign. 

5. On the day following the inaugural ceremonies, President Har- . 
rison sent in the nominations for his Cabinet officers, as follows: 
for Secretary of State, James G. Blaine, of Maine; for Secretary 
of the Treasury, William Windom, of Minnesota; for Secretary of 
War, liedfield Proctor, of Vermont; for Secretary of the Navy, 
Benjamin F. Tracy, of New York; for Postmaster-General, John 
Wanamaker, of Pennsylvania; for Secretary of the Interior, John 
W. Noble, of Missouri; for Attorney-General, William H. II. Mil¬ 
ler, of Indiana; and for Secretary of Agriculture—the new depart¬ 
ment—Jeremiah Rusk, of Wisconsin. These appointments were 
immediately confirmed by the Senate, and the members of the new 
administration assumed their respective official duties. 

33 



51 ? 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


RECAPITULATION. 


CHAPTER I. 

Washington is inaugurated President.—And the new government organized.—The 
country is beset with difficulties.—A cabinet is formed.—Hamilton’s financial measures. 
—The seat of government is fixed.—An Indian war breaks out.—Harmar marches against 
the Miamis.—Is defeated on the Maumee.—The Bank of the United States is established. 
—Vermont is admitted into the Union.—St. Clair is sent against the Indians.—His army 
is defeated.—And himself superseded by Wayne.—Kentucky is admitted.—Washington 
re-elected.—The foreign relations of the government are troubled.—Genet’s conduct.— 
Fouchet supersedes him.—The whisky insurrection breaks out.—Is suppressed by Lee. 
—Wayne invades the Indian country.—Defeats the Red men at Waynesfield.—Compels 
a cession of territory.—Dies.—Great Britain orders the seizure of American vessels.—Jay 
procures reparation and a treaty.—The compact with Spain.—Peace is purchased of 
Algiers.—Tennessee is admitted.—Washington issues his Farewell Address.—The candi¬ 
dates for the presidency.—Adams is elected.—Jefferson for vice-president. 

CHAPTER II. 

Opposition to the new administration.—France demands an alliance.—Orders the de¬ 
struction of American commerce.—Pinckney is dismissed.—The extra session of Con¬ 
gress.—Gerry, Marshall and Pinckney are sent to France.—The Directory want money. 
—Pinckney’s answer.—An American army is organized.—Washington commander-in¬ 
chief.—The work of the navy.—Truxtun’s victories.—Napoleon seeks peace.—Death of 
Washington.—Close of the administration.—Growth of the country.—The Alien and 
Sedition laws.—Overthrow of the Federal party.—Jefferson is elected president.—And 
Burr vice-president. 

CHAPTER III. 

Jefferson puts Democrats in office.—Ohio is admitted.—Indiana and Mississippi organ¬ 
ized.—Louisiana is purchased from France.—And the Territory of Orleans set oflf— J ohn 
Marshall in the chief-justiceship.—The Mediterranean pirates.—Preble is sent against 
them.—The Philadelphia is captured.—Retaken and burned.—The siege of Tripoli.— 
Yusef signs a treaty.—The duel of Burr and Hamilton.—Jefferson is re-elected.—Michi¬ 
gan is organized.—Lewis and Clarke explore Oregon.—Burr makes a conspiracy.—Is 
tried for treason.—British aggressions on American commerce.—England blockades the 
coast of France.—Napoleon retaliates.—Great Britain forbids the coasting-trade.—The 
English theory of citizenship.—The attack of the Leopard on the Chesapeake .—Passage 
of the Embargo Act.—The orders in Council and Milan Decree.—Fulton and his steam¬ 
boat.—Summary. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Previous services of Madison.—His politics.—The Non-intercourse Act takes the place 
of the embargo.—Erskine promises the repeal of the Orders in Council—The promise 
not fulfilled.—Bonaparte makes a decree.—And then revokes it.—Obstinacy of Great 



RECAPITULA TION. 


513 


Britain. Third census.—Tecumtha and the Prophet.—Harrison purchases lands.—Te* 
cumtha refuses to ratify.—Harrison marches up the Wabash valley.—Approaches the 
Prophet’s town.—Is attacked by night.—And routs the savages.—Fight of the President 
and Little Belt. The twelfth Congress.—War inevitable.—British vessels are embargoed. 

Louisiana is admitted.—War declared against England.—Preparations.—Hull’s cam¬ 
paign. He marches to the head of Lake Erie.—Reaches Detroit.—Invades Canada.— 
Retreats. Van Horne’s defeat.—Miller’s victory.—Siege of Detroit.—Hull’s disgraceful 
surrender.—He is convicted of cowardice.—Capture and burning of Fort Dearborn.— 
The Constitution captures the Guerriere. —The Wasp the Frolic. —The Poictiers the Wasp. 
—The United States the Macedonian. —The Essex the Nocton. —And the Constitution the 
Java. —Van Rensselaer moves against Queenstown.—Carries the batteries.—Death of 
Brock.—The Americans entrench.—But are forced to surrender.—Smyth succeeds Van 
Rensselaer.—The Americans at Black Rock cross and recross the river.—Madison re¬ 
elected. 


CHAPTER V. 

Plan of the campaigns of ’13.—The Americans capture Frenchtown.—Are assailed by 
Proctor.—Surrender.—And are butchered.—Harrison at Fort Meigs.—He is besieged.— 
Clay raises the siege.—Proctor and Tecumtha return.—Attack Fort Stephenson.—And 
are defeated by Croghan.—Affairs on Lake Erie.—Perry builds a fleet.— Attacks the 
British squadron.—And gains a signal victory.—Harrison embarks his forces to Malden. 
—Follows the British and Indians to the Thames.—And routs them in battle.—The 
Creeks massacre the garrison at Fort Mims.—Jackson and Coffee with the Tennesseeans. 
—They burn Tallushatchee.—Battles of Talladega and Autosse.—Winter and starva¬ 
tion.—Battle of Emucfau.—And Horse Shoe Bend.—Dearborn proceeds against Toronto. 
—Battle at the water’s edge.—The Americans capture the town.—The British attack 
Sackett’s Harbor.—The Americans on the Niagara.—They storm Fort George.—Sus¬ 
pension of operations.—Wilkinson is made commander-in-chief.—Expedition against 
Montreal.—The battle of Chrysler’s Field.—The expedition is abandoned.—Winter 
quarters at Fort Covington.—McClure evacuates Fort George.—Burns Newark.—The 
British retaliate.—The Hornet captures the Peacock. —The Chesapeake is taken by the 
Shannon. —Death of Lawrence.—Capture of the Argus. —The Enterprise takes the Boxer. 
—The Essex is captured by the Phoebe and Cherub. —A British fleet bombards Lewistown. 
—'Marauding in the Chesapeake. 


CHAPTER VI. 

Scott and Ripley capture Erie.—Battles of Chippewa and Niagara.—The Americans 
retreat to Erie.—Siege of that place by the British.—They are driven off'.—Winter quar¬ 
ters at Black Rock.—Wilkinson again invades Canada.—Is defeated at La Colle.—And 
retreats to Plattsburg.—McDonough’s squadron on the lake.—The British advance.— 
Attack by land and water.—And are defeated.—Cochrane and Ross in the Chesapeake.— 
Barney destroys his vessels.—Battle of Bladensburg.—Washington is captured by the 
British.—Public buildings burned.—Alexandria pays a ransom.—Siege of Baltimore.— 
Ravages in New England.—The Federal peace party.—The Hartford Convention.— 
Jackson captures Pensacola.—Takes command at New Orleans.—Approach of the Brit¬ 
ish—Skirmishing and fighting.—The decisive battle.—Ruin of Packenham’s army.— 
The news of peace.—Sea-fights afterward.—The treaty of Ghent and its terms—Condi¬ 
tion of the country.—Rechartering of the United States Bank.—The Mediterranean 
pirates again.—Decatur sent out against them.—He captures a Moorish ship.—And 
then another.—Enters the Bay of Algiers.—And dictates the terms of peace.—Indiana 
is admitted.—Liberia founded.—Monroe is elected President. 


514 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


CHAPTER VII. 

The new President and his policy.—The cabinet.—Revival of the country. Missis¬ 
sippi is admitted.—The pirates of Amelia Island dispersed.—The question of internal 
improvements arises.—The canal from Buffalo to Albany.—The Seminole War breaks 
out.—Jackson invades the hostile country.—Captures St. Marks.—Hangs Arbuthnot and 
Ambrister.—Takes Pensacola.—An excitement follows.—Which leads to the cession of 
Florida.—Illinois is admitted.—And Alabama.—Arkansas is organized.—And Maine 
admitted.—And Missouri.—The slavery agitation.—And Missouri Compromise.—Mon¬ 
roe and Tompkins are re-elected.—Commodore Porter suppresses piracy in the West 
Indies.—Sympathy of the United States for the South American republics.—The Mon¬ 
roe Doctrine.—The visit of La Fayette.—Excitement attending the presidential election. 
—John Quincy Adams chosen. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Sketch of the President.—Partisan opposition in Congress.—Internal improvements 
favored by the executive.—Trouble with Georgia about the lands of the Creeks.—Settled 
by a treaty.—Death of Adams and Jefferson.—The Masonic excitement in New York.— 
Discussion of the tariff in Congress.—A protective duty laid on fabrics.—Adams re¬ 
nominated for the presidency.—General Jackson put forward by the Democrats.—And 
elected. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Character of Jackson.—He fills the offices with his political friends.—Opposes the re¬ 
chartering of the United States Bank.—And vetoes the bill.—The tariff question again.— 
South Carolina attempts nullification.—Debate of Webster and Hayne.—The President's 
proclamation.—South Carolina recedes from her position.—Mr. Clay’s tariff compromise. 
—The Black Hawk War breaks out.—Generals Scott and Atkinson are sent against the 
Red men.—Who are driven to submission.—The difficulty with the Cherokees.—Charac¬ 
ter of that race.—The wrongs done to them.—Scott compels their removal to the West. 
—A Second Seminole war.—The arrest of Osceola.—His release and conspiracy.—Dade’s 
massacre.—Murder of General Thompson.—Clinch fights the savages, and retreats.— 
Gaines defeats the Indians on the Withlacoochie.— Battle of the Wahoo Swamp.—A 
second fight.—The President orders the distribution of the funds.—A panic follows.— 
The President is vituperated.—But re-elected.—He brings France and Portugal to terms. 
—Death-list of eminent men.—Fires in New York and Washington.—Arkansas and 
Michigan admitted into the Union.—Van Buren elected President. 

CHAPTER X. 

Sketch of the new executive.—Continuance of the Seminole War.—Colonel Taylor 
hunts the savages to Lake Okeechobee.—Defeats them.—And compels submission.—The 
financial panic of ’37.—Causes which led thereto.—Especially the Specie Circular.—The 
banks suspend.—Tremendous failures.—Treasury notes are issued.—The Independent- 
Treasury Bill is discussed.—And finally passed.—Partial revival of business.—The Can¬ 
ada insurrection.—Affair of the Caroline. —Wool is sent to the Niagara.—Order is re¬ 
stored.—Uneventful character of the administration.—General Harrison is elected Pres¬ 
ident. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Sketch of the President’s life—He enters upon his duties.—Falls sick.-And dies.— 
Tyler succeeds to the presidency.—Sketch.—Repeal of the Independent Treasury Bill.— 


RECAPITULA TION. 


515 


A bill is passed to re-charter the United States Bank.—And vetoed by the President.— 
Rupture between the executive and Congress.—Resignation of the cabinet,—The north¬ 
eastern boundary is settled by the Webster-Ashburton treaty.—The Rhode Island insur¬ 
rection.—The suffrage party elects Dorr.—And the law-and-order party King—The 
latter is supported by the government.—Dorr’s followers are scattered.—And himself 
convicted of treason. But afterward pardoned.—The Van Rensselaer land troubles in 
New \ork. The Mormons.—They are driven from Missouri.—Found Nauvoo.—Pop¬ 
ular feeling against them.—Smith and his brother are murdered.—And the Mormons 
driven into exile.—They journey to Salt Lake.—The Texas excitement begins.—Outline 
of Texan history.—The people rebel against Mexico.—Battle of Gonzales.—Capture of 
the Alamo.—And massacre of the garrison.—The battle of San Jacinto decides the con¬ 
test.—Texas independent.—Seeks admission into the Union.—Is refused at first.—The 
people of the United States divide on the question of annexation.—On that issue Polk 
is elected President.—Professor Morse and the telegraph.—Texas admitted into the 
Union. 


CHAPTER XII. 

Sketch of President Polk.—Texas ratifies the annexation.—General Taylor sent to 
defend the country.—The boundary question.—Proposition to negotiate.—Mexico re¬ 
fuses.—Taylor ordered to the Neuces.—And thence to the Rio Grande.—He establishes 
a post at Point Isabel.—And builds Fort Brown.—Beginning of hostilities by the Mex¬ 
icans.—Taylor retires to Point Isabel.—Returns toward Matamoras.—Meets the Mex¬ 
icans.—Fights and gains the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.—Siege of 
Fort Brown.—News of the battles in the United States.—Declaration of war.—Plan of 
the campaigns.—General Wool musters the forces.—Taylor captures Matamoras.—Ad¬ 
vances against Monterey.—Besieges and storms the town.—An armistice.—Santa Anna 
made president of Mexico and general of the army.—Saltillo is taken by Worth.—Vic¬ 
toria by Patterson.—And Tampico by Conner.—Wool advances.—And Scott assumes 
command.—Kearney captures Santa FA—Moves westward.—Is joined by Carson.—And 
marches to the Pacific coast.—The deeds of Colonel Fremont.—Rebellion of the Califor¬ 
nians.—They defeat the Mexicans.—Monterey, San Diego and Los Angelos taken.— 
Battle of San Gabriel.—The march and battles of Colonel Doniphan.—Taylor’s and 
Wool’s forces ordered to the coast.—Critical condition of Taylor’s army.—Approach of 
Santa Anna.—Battle of Buena Vista.—Retirement of Taylor from the service.—Scott 
besieges and captures Vera Cruz.—Marches against the capital.—Battle of Cerro Gordo. 
—Jalapa, Perote and Puebla are taken.—Negotiations.—The march renewed.—The 
army passes the Cordilleras.—Reaches Ayotla.—Turns to the left.—The approaches 
and fortifications of the city.—Storming of Contreras and San Antonio.—Churubusco is 
carried.—The Mexicans driven back to Chapultepec.—More foolish negotiations.—Scott 
rests his army.—And then advances.—Molino del Rey and Casa de Mata are stormed.— 
Chapultepec is taken.—Flight of the Mexican government.—The American army enters 
the city.—Santa Anna attacks the hospitals at Puebla.—Is driven off by General Lane. 
—Downfall of the Mexican authority.—The treaty of Gaudalupe Hidalgo.—Its terms.— 
The discovery of gold in California.—The excitement which ensued. Importance of 
the mines.—Death of Jackson and John Quincy Adams.—Wisconsin is admitted.—The 
canvass for President.—Rise of the Free Soil party.—The Wilmot proviso.—Election of 
Taylor to the presidency. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Sketch of the chief magistrate.—The question of slavery in California.—A territorial 
government is organized.—A petition for admission. The controversy in Congress. 
Other political vexations.—Clay as a peacemaker.—Passage of the Omnibus Bill.—And 


516 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


its provisions.—Death of the President.—The slavery excitement subsides. Retirement 
of Mr. Clay.—The Cuban expedition is organized.—Lopez and his associates are ex¬ 
ecuted.—A difficulty arises about the coast-fisheries.—And is settled by a treaty. The 
tour of Kossuth.—Arctic expeditions of Franklin, De Haven and Kane.—Death of 
Calhoun, Clay and Webster.—The candidates for the presidency.—Pierce is elected. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Sketch of Franklin Pierce.—A route for a Pacific Railroad is explored.—Settlement 
of the boundary of New Mexico.—The Japanese ports are opened to the United States. 
—The World’s Fair.—A bill to organize Kansas and Nebraska is passed.—Repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise.—Renewal of the slavery agitation.—The troubles in Kansas.— 
Two territorial governments are organized.—Geary sent thither as military governor.— 
Marshaling of parties on the slavery question.—Buchanan is elected to the presidency. 

CHAPTER XV. 

Sketch of the President.—The Mormon rebellion in Utah.—Is suppressed by the army. 
—A difficulty arises with Paraguay.—But is settled by treaty.—The first Atlantic cable 
is laid.—Minnesota is admitted.—Retirement and sketch of Houston.—The Dred Scott 
decision and Personal Liberty bills.—John Brown’s insurrection.—Continuance of the 
troubles in Kansas.—The political parties again divide on the slavery question.—Lincoln 
is elected President.—Condition of affairs in the government.—Position of Buchanan.— 
The drama of secession.—Seven States withdraw from the Union.—The secession con¬ 
ventions.—Position of Stephens.—Organization of the Provisional Confederate govern¬ 
ment.—Davis for President.—The peace movements end in failure.—Paralysis of the 
administration.—Seizure of forts and arsenals by the Confederates.—The strife in Kan¬ 
sas continues.—The Star of the West is driven off from Sumter.—The President elect 
reaches Washington. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Sketch of Abraham Lincoln.—Organization of his cabinet.—His purpose to repossess 
the forts of the United States.—Preparations to reinforce Fort Sumter.—Confederate 
movements in Charleston.—Bombardment and fall of Sumter.—The event fires the na¬ 
tion.—The call for troops.—Secession of Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Ten¬ 
nessee.—The soldiers attacked in Baltimore.—Capture of Harper’s Ferry and the Nor¬ 
folk navy yard.—Prodigious activity and preparations.—Davis and his cabinet at Rich¬ 
mond. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The causes.—First, the different construction of the Constitution in the North and the 
South.—Fatal character of this dispute.—Second, the system of slavery.—The cotton gin. 
—The Missouri agitation.—The annexation of Texas, and the Mexican War.—The nul¬ 
lification measures of South Carolina.—The Omnibus Bill.—The Kansas-Nebraska im¬ 
broglio.—Third, the want of intercourse between the North and the South.—Fourth, the 
publication of sectional books.—Fifth, the influence of demagogues. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Advance of the Union army.—Fight at Big Bethel.—Morris and McClellan move for¬ 
ward in West Virginia.—Engagements at Philippi, Rich Mountain, Carrick’s Ford, Car- 
nifex Ferry, Cheat Mountain and Romney.—The Confederates concentrate at Manassas. 
■—The national forces advance.—The skirmish, the battle and the rout.—Effect on the 
country.—The Confederate government at Richmond.—Sketch of Davis.—Affairs in 
Missouri.—Confederates capture Liberty.—Form Camp Jackson.—Lyon defends St. 


RECAPITULA TION. 


517 


Louis.—Battles of Carthage and Springfield.—Price captures Lexington.—Fremont 
pursues him.—And is superseded.—Grant captures Belmont.—McClellan is made com¬ 
mander-in-chief.—The disaster at Ball’s Bluff.—Hatteras Inlet, Port Royal and Hilton 
Head secured by the Federals.—Capture of Mason and Slidell.—They are released by 
Mr. Seward. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Extent and position of the Union forces.—The Confederates defeated on the Big Sandy 
and at Mill Spring.—Fort Henry is taken.—Siege and capture of Fort Donelson.—Bat¬ 
tle of Shiloh.—Island Number Ten is taken.—The battle of Pea Ridge.—Fight of the 
Monitor and the Merrimac. —Burnside captures Roanoke Island, Newbern and Beaufort. 
—Savannah is blockaded.—Farragut and Butler ascend the Mississippi.—Pass Forts 
Jackson and St. Philip.—Capture of New Orleans.—Fall of Jackson and St. Philip.— 
Kirby Smith invades Kentucky.—Battle of Richmond.—Bragg marches on Louisville. 
—The city held by Buell.—Bragg retreats.—Battle of Perryville.—Battles of Iuka and 
Corinth.—Grant moves against Vicksburg.—Retreats.—Battle of Chickasaw Bayou.— 
Battle of Murfreesborough.—Banks and Jackson in the Shenandoah valley.—Fight at 
Front Royal.—The Federals retreat across the Potomac.—The Confederates fall back in 
turn.—Battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic.—McClellan advances.—Beginning of 
the peninsular campaign.—Yorktown is taken.—Then Williamsburg and West Point.— 
Wool captures Norfolk.—The Virginia destroyed.—Battle of Fair Oaks.—Lee made 
general-in-chief of the Confederates.—McClellan changes base.—The seven days’ battles. 
—The Union army at Harrison’s Landing.—Lee strikes for Washington.—Is opposed 
by Pope.—Flank movement of Jackson.—Battles of Manassas, Centreville and Chantilly. 
—Lee invades Maryland.—Harper’s Ferry is taken.—Engagement at South Mountain.— 
Battle of Antietam.—Confederates retreat.—Burnside in command.—Is defeated at Fred¬ 
ericksburg. 

CHAPTER XX. 

Proportions of the conflict.—New calls for troops.—The Emancipation Proclamation. 
—Capture of Arkansas Post.—Movements against Vicksburg.—The fleet passes the bat¬ 
teries.—Grant at Bruinsburg.—Battles of Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson and Cham¬ 
pion Hills.—The siege and capture of Vicksburg.—Fall of Port Hudson.—Cavalry raids 
of Jackson, Stuart and Grierson.—Rosecrans drives Bragg across the Tennessee.—Battle 
of Chattanooga—And the siege.—Storming of Lookout and Missionary Ridge—Long- 
street in Tennessee.—Siege of Knoxville.—Engagements at Springfield, Cape Girardeau 
and Helena.—The sacking of Lawrence.—Capture of Little Rock.—Morgan invades In¬ 
diana—Passes into Ohio.—Is hemmed in and captured.—The Confederates take Gal¬ 
veston—The siege of Charleston—Hooker commands the Army of the Potomac.— 
Battle of Chancellorsville.—Death of Stonewall Jackson.—Stoneman’s raid.—Siege of 
Suffolk.—Lee invades Pennsylvania.—The battle of Gettysburg.—Retreat of the Con¬ 
federates.—The conscription.—Riot in New York.—The draft. New calls for soldier 
—West Virginia a State. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Sherman’s campaign to Meridian.—Smith fails to form a junction. Sherman retires 
to Vicksburg—Forrest’s raid—The Red River expedition—Plan of the campaign.— 
Capture of Fort de Russy, Alexandria and Natchitoches.—Union disaster and retreat.— 
Steele falls back to Little Rock—Grant lieutenant-general—Plan of the campaigns of ’64 
—Sherman advances.—Battles of Dalton, Resaca and Dallas.-Attacks and repulses at 
Kenesaw.—The Confederates fall back to Atlanta.—Siege and capture of the stronghold. 
—Hood invades Tennessee—Thomas sent to confront him.—Battle of Franklin.—Siege 
of Nashville.—Rout and ruin of Hood’s army.-Sherman’s march to the sea.—Capture 


518 


HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 


of Macon, Milledgeville, Gibson and Waynesborough.—Storming of Fort McAllister.— 
Escape of Hardee.—And capture of the city.—The Union army in Savannah.—Renewal 
of the march.—Columbia, Charleston and Fayetteville are taken.—Johnston restored to 
command.—Battles of Averasborough and Bentonsville.—Capture of Goldsborough and 
Raleigh.—Surrender of Johnston.—Farragut enters Mobile Bay.—Defeats the Con¬ 
federate squadron.—Captures Forts Gaines and Morgan.—Fort Fisher is besieged by 
Porter and Butler.—The first effort fails.—The siege is renewed.—And the fort taken by 
storm.—Cushing’s exploit.—The Confederate cruisers.—Injury done to the commerce of 
the United States.—The Savannah. —Career of the Sumter. —Cruise of the Nashville. —The 
Confederates use the British ship-yards.—Building of the Florida. —Her fate.—The 
Georgia, the Olustee, the Shenandoah and the Chickamauga built at Glasgow.—End of the 
Chickamauga and the Tallahassee. —Career of the Georgia and the Shenandoah. —The 
Alabama. —Her character.—She scours the ocean.—Runs into Cherbourg.—Is caught by 
the Kearsarge. —And destroyed.—The Army of the Potomac moves from Culpepper.— 
Reaches the Wilderness.—The battles.—Grant advances to Spottsylvania.—Terrible 
fighting there.—The Union army moves to Cold Harbor.—Is repulsed in two battles.— 
Losses.—Grant changes base.—Butler captures Bermuda and City Point.—Is driven 
back by Beauregard.—Junction of the armies.—Advance on Petersburg.—The assaults. 
—The siege begins.—Sigel on the Shenandoah.—Battle of New Market.—Hunter in 
command.—Engagement at Piedmont.—Retreat of Hunter.—Early enters the valley.— 
Crosses the Potomac.—Defeats Wallace.—Threatens Washington and Baltimore.—Re¬ 
treats into Virginia.—Fight at Winchester.—The Confederates burn Chambersburg.—- 
Sheridan is sent into the valley.—Battles of Winchester and Fisher’s Hill.—Sheridan 
ravages the country.—Early comes.—Routs the Federals at Cedar Creek.—Sheridan 
returns, and destroys Early’s army.—The siege of Petersburg continues.—Battles of 
Boydtown and Five Forks.—Flight of the Confederate government.—Fall of Petersburg 
and Richmond.—Surrender of Lee.—Collapse of the Confederacy.—The Federal author¬ 
ity is re-established.—Capture, imprisonment and trial of Davis.—Lincoln re-elected.— 
Financial condition of the country.—Treasury notes.—Internal Revenue.—Legal Ten¬ 
ders.—Bonds.—Banks.—The debt.—Lincoln is re-inaugurated.—Visits Richmond.—Is 
assassinated.—Punishment of his murderers.—Character of Lincoln. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Johnson in the presidency.—Sketch.—Slavery is formally abolished.—The Amnesty 
Proclamation.—A struggle with the war-debt.—Napoleon’s empire in Mexico.—Maxi¬ 
milian is captured and shot.—Final success of the Atlantic telegraph.—The Territories 
assume their final form.—Alaska is purchased from Russia.—The difficulty between the 
President and Congress.—The reconstruction imbroglio.—Second amnesty.—The South¬ 
ern States are re-admitted.—The President removes Stanton.—Is impeached.—And ac¬ 
quitted.—General Grant is elected President. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Sketch of President Grant.—The Pacific Railroad is completed.—The Fourteenth and 
Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution are adopted.—The Southern States are re¬ 
stored to their place in the Union.—The ninth census and its lesson.—The Santo Do¬ 
mingo business.—The Alabama claims are adjusted by the treaty of Washington and 
the Geneva court.—The burning of Chicago.—The presidential election.—The candi¬ 
dates.—Grant is re-elected.—Character of Greeley.—His death.—Great fire in Boston.— 
The Modoc war.—Murder of the peace commissioners.—The savages are subdued.— 
The Louisiana imbroglio.—The Credit Mobilier investigation.—The financial crisis of 


RECAPITULA TION. 


519 


1873-74. Death-roll of eminent men. — The Centennial Exposition.—Sketch of the 
plan. The means furnished.—The Main Building.—The Memorial Hall.—Machinery 
Hall. Agricultural and Horticultural Halls.—Other buildings.—Inaugural ceremo¬ 
nies of the Exposition.—Character of the same—Celebration of the Centennial in Phil¬ 
adelphia. The Sioux War breaks out.—Causes.—The Seventh Cavalry sent against the 
savages. Destruction of Custer and his men.—Other movements of the army.—Battles 
of McKenzie and Miles’s forces.—The Indians subdued.—The twenty-third Presidential 
election. The candidates and platforms of the parties.—The disputed Presidency.—The 
same is settled by a Joint High Commission.—General Hayes declared elected. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Sketch of President Hayes.—The policy of the new administration.—Effects of the 
same on the country.—The Hayes Cabinet.—The great Railroad Strike occurs.—The 
war with the Nez Perce Indians breaks out.—The tribe is subdued.—The monetary agi¬ 
tation arises.—Silver is remonetized.—The Yellow Fever wastes the South.—The Hali¬ 
fax Fishery award.—A Chinese embassy is established.—The Life-Saving Service is in¬ 
stituted.—Specie payments are resumed.—The presidential election of 1880.—Garfield is 
elected.—Tour of General Grant.—Results of the Tenth Census.—Death-list of eminent 
men. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Sketch of General Garfield.—The inauguration.—The address.—The new Cabinet.— 
Dissentions in the Republican party.—The break in New York.—The President is as¬ 
sassinated.—The story of his sufferings and death.—The accession of Arthur.—Sketch of 
his life.—His inauguration.—Cabinet changes.—Age of scientific discovery.—The tele¬ 
phone.—The phonograph.—The electric light.—Great public works.—The East River 
Bridge.—Obliteration of party lines.—Presidential nominations of 1884.—Election of 
Cleveland and Hendricks.—Transfer of the command of the army.—Dedication of 
the Washington Monument. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Sketch of President Cleveland.—The new Cabinet.—The International Cotton Ex¬ 
position.—Problem of Civil Service Reform.—Labor agitations.—A speculative mania 
seizes the American market.—Riots in Chicago and Milwaukee.—Great earthquake.— 
Failure of Revenue Reform Bill.—Pension Bills vetoed.—Inter-State Commerce Bill; 
Its difficulties.—War literature.^-Battle flags incident.—Death-roll of eminent men.— 
Sketch of the Supreme Court.—Campaign of 1888.—Election of Harrison and Morton.— 
New States.—A new Cabinet office. 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

Sketch of President Harrison.—The policy of the administration.—The Cabinet. 


PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES USED IN PART IV. 


[E., English; F., French; S., Spanish ; G.. German. L, Indira. ] 


Adet [F.], ah-da. 

Almonte [S.], al-mdn-tg. 

Ambrister [E.], am-bris-tgr. 

Ampudia [S.], am-poo-di-a. 

Antietam [E.], au-te-tam. 

Au Glaize [F.], o-glhz. 

Ayotla [S.], i-ot-ia. 

Bahia [S.], bah-e-a. 

Barron [E.]. bahr-r&n. 

Beauregard [F.], b5-ra-gahrd. 
Blennerhassett [E.], blgn-ngr-hfis-sgt. 
Blyth [E.], blith. 

Chapultepec [S.], kah-pool-ta-pek. 
Chauncey [E.], chawn-sg. 

Cherbourg [F.], sher-boorg. 
Chickamauga [E.], chik-a-inaw-ga. 
Chihuahua [S.], she-wah-wah. 

Chrysler [E.], kris-lgr. 

Churubusco [S.], koo-roo-boos-ko. 
Cochrane [E.], kok-ran. 

Contreras [S.], kon-tia-ras. 

Credit Mobilier [F.], vnVdl-mO-bil-I-ar. 
Croghan [E.], krog-han. 

Dacres [E.], d&k-grz. 

Dahlgren [E.], dal-grgn. 

Decatur [E.], dg-ka-tur. 

Doniphan [E.], don-I-fau. 

Dupont [E.], du-pont. 

Elkswatawa [I.], elks-vvah-tah-wah. 
Emucfau [I.]. g-mook-faw. 

Ericsson [E.], er-iks-sun. 

Erskine [E.], er-skln. 

Farragut [E.], fahr-ra-gu. 

Fouchet [F.], foo-sha. 

Freneau [E.], frg- 110 . 

Gambier [F.], gahm-bl-a. 

Genet [F.], zhg-na. 

Goulburn [E.], gool-biirn. 

Grierson [E.], grer-sun. 

Guerriere [F.], ggr-rl-ar. 

Houston [E.], hows tun. 

Iuka [E.], I-yoo-ka. 

Juarez [S.], yaw-rgth. 


Kearney [E.], kahr-ng. 

Kearsarge [E.], kahr-sahr-g». 

Kossuth [G.], kos-shoot. 

La Colle [F.], la-kdl. 

La Fitte [F.], la fit. 

La Vega [S.], lah va-ga. 

Lopez [S.], lo-pgth. 

Macdonough [E.], mak-ddn«d. 
Macomb [E.], ma-kom. 

Maximilian [GJ, max-i-mii-yitt- 
McCullough [E.], mak-kul-lo. 
McIntosh [E.], mak-in-tbsh. 
Meacham [E.], nie-cham. 

Micanopy [I.], ml-kdn-o-pi. 

Moscow [E.], mos-ko. 

Nueces [S.], nwa-sSs. 

Ocklawaha [I.]. 6k-la-wah-hah. 
Odeneal [E.], o-den-el. 

Okeechobee [I.], o-ke-cho-be. 

Olustee [E.], o-lus-te. 

Osceola [I.], os-se-o-ia. 

Perote [S.], pa-ro-te. 

Poictiers [F.], pwah-te-a. 

Prevost [E.], prev-6st. 

Quantrell [E.], kwahn-trgl. 

Queretaro [S.], ka-ra-tah-ro 
Riall [E.], ri-al. 

Rosecrans [G.], ios-g-krahns. 

Saltillo [S.], sahl-tel-yo. 

Seward [E.], soo-ahrd. 

Semmes [E.], semz. 

Sheaffe [G.], sh&f-fg. 

Sigel [G.], se-gel. 

Streiglit [E.], strat. 

Talladega [I.], tahl-13-de-ga. 
Tamaulipas [S.], tahm-aw-le-ptts. 
Tecumtha [I.], te-kum-tha. 

Tohopeka [I.], to-ho-pe-ka. 

Van Rensselaer [E.], van rens-sg-late 
Weitzel [G.], wit-zel. 

Whinyates [E.], hwin-yats. 

Wilkes [E.], wilks. 

Yusef [Moorish], yoo-sgf, 


[520J 










I 


INDEX. 

- •<>• - 


ABENAKIS, The. War with, 112,118. 

ABERCROMBIE, General, Expedition of against 
Ticonderoga, 237. 

ACADIA, Name of, 33; ruin of, 227-230. 

ADAMS, John, Predicts American Independence, 
248; nominates Washington for general-in-chief, 
263 ; member of committee to draft Declaration, 
271; commissxoner to Paris, 316; Vice-President, 
323; administration of, 333-336; death of, 373. 

ADAMS, John Quincy, Secretary of State, 368; 
elected President 372; sketch of, 372; adminis¬ 
tration of, 372-374 ; death of, 399. 

ADAMS, Samuel, Speaks out for liberty, 257. 

ADET, M., Evil influence of, 333. 

ADOLPHUS. Gustaves, Plans American col., 148. 

AGRICULTURE, Dept, of, becomes Cab. office,509 

AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, Treaty of, 122. 

ALABAMA, Admission of. 369. 

ALABAMA, The, Career of, 452. 

ALABAMA CLAIMS, The, Settlement of, 466. 

ALASKA, Purchase of, 461. 

ALGIERS. Tribute paid to, 332; brought to terms, 367. 

A LGON QU INS, Terri torial position of, 8 and Map I. 

ALLEN, Ethan, At Ticonderoga, 260. 

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION, No¬ 
tice of, 322 ; Fourteenth and Fifteenth, 465. 

AMHERST, General, Commander-in-chief in 
America, 239. 

A MIDAS, Philip, Voyage of, 39. 

AMNESTY PROCLAMATION, Account of, 459. 

ANDERSON, Robert, At Fort Sumter, 414. 

ANDRE, John, Connection of with Arnold’s trea¬ 
son, 306 ; execution of, 307. 

ANDROS, Sir Edmund, Career of in America, 110, 
111, 131, 137, 140, 158, 171. 

ANTIETAM, Battle of, 435. 

ANTI-FEDERALIST PARTY, The, Rise of, 321. 

ARCHDALE, John, Gov. of South Carolina, 200. 

ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS, Account of, 403. 

ARGALL, Samuel, Expeditions of, 70, 71. 

ARKANSAS, Organization of. 370; admission of, 380. 

ARMADA, The Invincible, Mention of, 41. 

ARNOLD, Benedict, At Ticonderoga, 261; expedi¬ 
tion of against Quebec, 265; heroism of at Sara¬ 
toga, 285; treason of, 305-307; in Virginia, 308. 

ARTHUR, Chester A., Elected Vice-President, 
483 ; sketch of, 489 ; administration of, 489. 

ATLANTA, Capture of, 447. 

BACON, Nathaniel, Rebellion of, 82. 

BALBOA, Discovery of the Pacific by, 18. 

BALTIMORE, Siege of, 362; attack on Union sol¬ 
diers in, 415. 

BALTIMORE, The Lords, Colonize Maryland, 183. 

BANK OF THE UNITED STATES. Organization 
of, 329; expiration of charter of, 366; recharter¬ 
ing of vetoed by Jackson, 375; new charter of 
vetoed by Tyler, 384. 

BANKS, N. P., In West Virginia,430; in command 
of Red River expedition, 445. 


BANKS, National, Establishment of, 457. 

BARCLAY, Robert, Governor of New Jersey, 171. 
BARLOW, Arthur, Voyage of, 39. 

BATTLE Flags of Civil War, incident concern., 502 

BAYARD, Thomas F., Secretary of State, 495. 

BEECHER, Henry Ward, dies, 504. 

BELL, A. Graham, Inventor of telephone, 491. 

BELLOMONT, Earl of, Gov. of New York, 163. 

BEMIS’S HEIGHTS, Battle of, 285. 

BENNINGTON, Battle of, 284. 

BERKELEY , Sir William, Gov. of Virginia, 78; 
vengeance of, 83; proprietor of New Jersey, 167. 

BLACK HAWK WAR, The, Account of, 376. 

BLAINE, James G., Secretary of State, 489; nom¬ 
inated for presidency ,492; Secretary of State,511. 

BLOCKADE, The question of in Europe, 341, 342. 

BOB ADI LL A, Mentioned, 17. 

BONAPARTE, Napoleon, Policy of toward Unit¬ 
ed States, 334 ; sells Louisiana, 337 ; measures of 
against Great Britain, 341; Milan decree of, 343. 

BONAPARTE, Louis, Intrigue in Mexico, 460. 

BOONE, Daniel. Colonizes Kentucky, 330. 

BOOTH, John Wilkes, Assassinates Lincoln, 458. 

BOSTON, Founded, 91; occupied by British, 255; 
massacre at, 255 ; siege of, 260-269; fire in. 468. 

BRADDOCK, Edward, Campaign of, 224-227. 

BRADFORD, William. Gov. of Massachusetts, 88. 

BRAGG, Braxton, At Murfreesborough, 430; at 
Chickamauga, 439 ; at Lookout Mountain, 439. 

BRANDYWINE, Battle of, 286. 

BRECKINRIDGE, John C., Vice-President, 40”; 
in command in Shenandoah Valley, 454. 

BROWN, John, Insurrection of, 410. 

BRYANT, William Cullen, Death of, 4815. 

BUCHANAN, James, elected President, 407; sketch 
of, 408; administration of, 408-413. 

BUCKNER, S. B., At Fort Donelson, 426. 

BUENA VISTA, Battle of, 393. 

BULL RUN, Battle of, 421; second battle of, 434. 

BUNKER HILL, Fortification of, 261; battle of, 262. 

BURGESSES, House of, Establishment of, 72; 
scene in, 251. 

BURGOYNE, General, Invasion of, 283-286. 

BURNSIDE, Ambrose E., Commands Army of 
Potomac, 435 ; at Fredericksburg, 435 ; dies, 503. 

BURR, Aaron, Vice-President, 336; kills Hamiltor 
340; conspiracy of, 341. 

BUTLER, B. F., At New Orleans, 428; at Fort 
Fisher, 450; at Bermuda Hundred,453; nominat¬ 
ed for presidency, 492. 

CABINET, The, Organization of, 328. 

CABLE, The Atlantic, Laying of, 408, 460. 

CABOT, John, Voyage of, 34. 

CABOT, Sebastian, Voyage and explorations of,35 

CALHOUN, John C., In Congress, 347; secretary 
of war, 368; Vice-President, 372; as a nullifier, 
376; death of, 404. 

CALIFORNIA, Discovery of gold in, 398; organiz¬ 
ation of, 400; admission of. 401. 

[ 521 ] 






5*22 


INDEX. 


CALIFORNIANS, Territorial position of,9, Map I. 

CALVERT, Sir George, Sketch of, 183. 

CALVERT, Sir Cecil, Colonizes Maryland,184. 

CAMDEN, Battle of, 304. 

CANADA, Invasion of, 265-267. 

CANADIAN INSURRECTION, Account of, 382. 

CANONCHET, Notice of, 105; execution of, 108. 

CANONICUS, Notice of, 93. 

CAPE BRETON, Conquest of, 121-122. 

CARTERET, Sir George, In New Jersey, 167. 

CARTIER, James, Voyage of, 29. 

CARVER, John, Leads Pilgrims, 49; death of, 87. 

CENSUS. Of 1790 and 1800, 335 ; of 1810, 345 ; of 1870, 
465; of 1880, 484. 

CENTENNIAL OF AMERICAN INDEPEND¬ 
ENCE, Account of, 471-473. 

CERRO GORDO, Battle of, 395. 

CHAMPE, John, Attempt to capture Arnold, 308. 

CHAMPION HILLS. Battle of, 437. 

CHAMPLAIN, Career of in America, 33, 34. 

CHANCELLORSVILLE, Battle of, 441. 

CHANDLER, Z., Death of, 485. , 

CHAPULTEPEC, Battle of, 397. 

CHARLES I., Relations of with American colo¬ 
nies, See Massachusetts and Virginia. 

CHARLES II., Relation of with American colo¬ 
nies, See Massachusetts and Virginia. 

CHARLESTON, Founding of, 198; taken by the 
British, 202; evacuation of, 313; siege of, 441; 
capture of, 449 ; earthquake at, 498, 499. 

CHARTER OF NEW ENGLAND, Account of, 90. 

CHARTER OAK, The, Story of, 111, 131. 

CHASE, Salmon, P., Secretary of the treasury, 
413; presides at the impeachment of Johnson, 
463 ; death of, 470. 

CHEROKEES, The, Territorial position of, 8 and 
Map I; war with, 242; difficulties with, 377. 

CHESAPEAKE BAY, The, Exploration of by 
John Smith,65. 

CHESAPEAKE, The, Affair of, 342. 

CHICAGO, Burning of, 467; riots in, 497. 

CHICKAMAUGA, Battle of, 439. 

CHINESE EMBASSY, Established, 481. 

CHIPPEWA, Battle of, 369. 

CHURUBUSCO, Battle of, 396. 

CIVIL SERVICE REFORM, 495. 

CIVIL WAR, The, Causes of, 416-419; history of 
413-456; Literature of, 501. 

CITIZENSHIP, English views of.342. 

CLARKE. John, Colonizes Rhode Island, 134. 

CLARKE, William, Exploring expedition of, 340. 

CLAYBORNE, William, In Maryland, 182-188. 

CLAY, Henry, In Congress, 347; influence of in 
Missouri Compromise, 370 ; secures passage of 
Omnibus Bill, 401; death of, 404. 

CLEVELAND, President, 493; sketch of, 494, 495; 
administration of, 494-510; re-nominated, 507. 

CLINTON, George, Vice-President, 340. 

CLINTON, Sir Henry, Attempts of to save Bur- 
goyne, 285; commander-in-chief of British, 292. 

CODDINGTON, William, Sets up Israel in Rhode 
Island, 135. 

COLFAX, Schuyler, Vice-President, 46 5 . 

COLIGNI, Mentioned, 31, 32. 

COLONIES, The American, Reflections on char¬ 
acter of, 210; dispute of with Great Britain, 247- 
258; independence of, 271, 317. 

COLONIZATION SOCIETY, Organization of, 367. 

COLORADO, Admission of, 475. 

COLUMBIA, District of, Organized, 335. 


COLUMBUS, Christopher, Sketch of, 16 ; discov¬ 
ery of America by, 16 ; misfortunes of, 17. 

COMANCHES, Territorial position of, 9 and Map I. 

COMMERCE, Inter-State, Bill, 500, 501. 

CONCORD, Founding of, 94; battle of, 259. 

CONFEDERATION, The, History of, 318-320. 

CONGRESS, The First Colonial, 253. 

CONGRESS OF THE REVOLUTION, Meets, 258. 

CONKLING, Roscoe, Notice of, 487 ; dies, 505. 

CONNECTICUT, Colonization of, 94; history of, 
124-132. 

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, 
Analysis of, 321, 322; adoption of by States, 322. 

CONSTITUTION, The, Affairs of, 349, 350. 

COOPER, Sir Ashley, Proprietor of Carolina, 191. 

CORDOVA, Explorations of, 19. 

CORINTH, Battle of, 429. 

CORNBURY, Lord, Governor of New York, 163. 

CORNWALLIS, Lord, Pursues Washington across 
New Jersey, 276; considers the war ended, 277; 
returns to the work, 279; at Princeton, 280; at 
Brandywine, 286; in Carolina, 309-311; in Vir¬ 
ginia, 314; surrender of at Yorktown, 315. 

CORTEREAL, Gaspar, Voyage of, 27. 

CORTEZ, Fernando, Mentioned, 19. 

COTTON EXPOSITION, Account of, 495. 

COTTON GIN, The, A factor of the civil war, 417. 

CRANFIELD, Edward, Governor of New Hamp¬ 
shire, 109; career of in the province, 140. 

CREDIT MOBILIER, The, Uproar concerning, 469. 

CREEKS, The, War with, 355; difficulties with, 373. 

CROMWELL. Oliver, Relations of with Virginia, 
77-80 ; favors New England, 99. 

CROWN POINT, Expedition against, 231. 

CUBA, Difficulties concerning, 402. 

DAKOTAS, The, Territorial position of, 9. 

DALE, Sir Thomas, Governor of Virginia, 69. 

DARE, Virginia, Birth of mentioned. 41. 

DARRAH, Lydia, Story of, 289. 

DAVIS, Jefferson, President of the Confederacy, 
412; sketch of, 422; flight of from Richmond, 4.56; 
capture and trial of, 456. 

DAYE, Stephen, First printer in America, 96. 

DEARBORN, Henry', Commander-in-chief of 
American Army, 347. 

De A YLLON, Discovery of Carolina by, 20. 

DECATUR, Commodore, In the Mediterranean, 366. 

De GAMA, Circumnavigation of Africa by, 36. 

De GOURGES, Settles with the Spaniard v >2. 

De KALB, Baron, Fights for liberty, 282; killed, 
304. 

DELAWARE, Colonization of, 149; secession of 
from Pennsylvania, 177. 

De LEON, Ponce, DiscoY^ery of Florida by, 18. 

DEMAGOGUES, Influence of, 419. 

DEMOCRATIC PARTY, The, Comes into power. 
336; routed, 339; regains ascendancy, 404. 

De MONTS, In America, 33. 

De SOTO, Ferdinand, Explorations of. 22-25; dis¬ 
covery of Mississippi by. 23 ; death of, 24. 

DETROIT, Capture of by the British, 348. 

DOLBEAR, A. C., Inventor of telephone, 491. 

DONIPHAN, Colonel, Campaign of, 393. 

DORR INSURRECTION, The, Account of, 384. 

DOUGLAS, Stephen A., Favors popular sover¬ 
eignty, 406. 

DRAFT, The, Ordered by Congress, 443. 

DRAKE, Sir Francis, Career of, 38, 40 

DRED SCOTT DECISION, The, History of, 410. 







INDEX. 


5*23 


EAST INDIA COMPANY, Mentioned, 50. 

EAST RIVER BRIDGE, Account of, 492. 

EATON, William, Campaign of in Africa, 339. 
EDISON, Thomas A., Inventor of phonograph and 
electric light, 491, 492. 

EDUCATION, Favored by the Puritans, 123. 
ELECTRIC LIGHT, Invention of, 491,492. 
ELIZABETH, Queen, Death of, 42. 
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, The, Is¬ 
sued by Lincoln, 436. 

EMBARGO ACT, The, Passage of, 342. 
ERICKSON, Leif, Discovery of America by, 13. 
ERICKSON, Thorwald and Thornstein, Men¬ 
tioned, 14. 

ERICSSON, John, Invention of Monitor by, 427. 
ESPEGO, Founder of Santa Fe, 26. 

ESQUIMAUX, The, 8. Map 1 
ESSEX, The. Affair of, 350. 

EUTAW SPRINGS, Battle of, 313. 

FAIR OAKS, Battle of, 432. 

FARRAGUT, Admiral, On the Mississippi, 428 
capture of Mobile by, 450 ; deatli of, 470. 
FEDERALIST PARTY, The, Rise of, 321; over¬ 
throw of, 335; opposition of to war of ’12, 363. 
FENDALL, Josias, Gov. of Maryland, 189. 

FIELD, Cyrus W., Lays Atlantic Cable, 409, 460. 
FILLMORE, Millard, Vice-President, 399; be¬ 
came President, 402 ; administration of, 402-405. 
FINANCIAL CRISIS, Of 1837, 381; of 1873, 470. 
FISK, Clinton B., Nominated for President, 508. 
FIVE FORKS, Battle of, 456. 

FLETCHER, Benjamin, Gov. of New York, 162. 
FLORIDA, Colonization of, 26; cession of, 369. 
FORREST, N. B., Raids of, 444. 

FORT DONELSON, Capture of, 426. 

FORT Du QUESNE, See Fort Pitt. 

FORT FISHER, Capture of, 450. 

FORT JACKSON, Capture of, 428. 

FORT Le BCEUF, Affairs at, 219. 

FORT McHENRY, Defense of, 363. 

FORT MEIGS, Siege of, 353. 

FORT MERCER, Abandoned by Americans, 289. 
FORT MIFFLIN, Defense of, 288. 

FORT MOULTRIE, Attack on, 269. 

FORT ORANGE, (Nassau), Building of, 52,146. 
FORT NASSAU, Building of, 167. 

FORT NECESSITY. Built and defended, 221,222. 
FORT PITT, Built, 220; capture of by the French, 
220 ; retaken by the English, 238. 

FORT ST. PHILIP, Capture of, 428. 

FORT SUMTER, Fall of, 414. 

FORT WILLIAM HENRY, Siege of, 235. 
FRANCE, Possessions of in America, 236; incites 
the colonies to rebel, 247; alliance of with United 
States, 290-292; difficulties with, 333. 
FRANKLIN, Benjamin, PlansUnion for America, 
223; favors liberty, 251; at the court of Louis 
XVI., 291; sketch of, 291. 

FRELINGHUYSEN, F. T., Secretary of State, 490. 
FREDERICKSBURG, Battle of, 435. 

FREE TRADE vs. PROTECTION, in cam¬ 
paign of 1888, 507. 

FREMONT, John C., Explorations of, 392. 
FRENCH, Explorations and settlements of in 
America, 28-34 ; 213-215; claim Ohio, 215-219. 
FROBISHER. Martin, Voyages of, 37. 
FROLIC, The, Affair of, 349. 

FULTON, Robert, Invents the Steamboat, 343. 

GADSDEN PURCHASE, The, Account of, 405. 


GAGE, General, In Boston, 255; career of, 259-264. 

GARFIELD, .1. A., Elected President, 483; sketch 
of, 485 ; administration of, 485-488 ; death of, 488. 

GATES, Horatio, Commands army of the North, 
285 ; in cabal against Washington, 290. 

GATES, Sir Thomas, Governor of Virginia, 68. 

GENET, Citizen, Career of in United States, 330. 

GEORGE III., Character of, 248. 

GEORGIA, Colonization of, 204 ; history of, 204-211. 

GERRY, Elbridge, Embassy of to France, 333; 
Vice-President, 351. 

GETTYSBURG, Battle of, 443. 

GHENT, Treaty of, 365, 366. 

GILBERT, Sir Humphrey, Career of, 38, 39. 

GIST, Christopher, Expedition of to the Ohio,217. 

GOLD, Discovery of in California, 398. 

GORGES, F., Proprietor of New Hampshire, 138. 

GOSNOLD, Bartholomew, New Route of, 42. 

GRAMME, Inventor of electric light, 491. 

GRANT, Ulysses S., At Fort Donelson, 426; at 
Pittsburg Landing, 426 ; at Vicksburg, 437 ; com¬ 
mander-in-chief, 446 ; in the Wilderness, 453; be¬ 
sieges Petersburg, 454; in pursuit of Lee, 456; 
elected President, 463; sketch of, 464 ; adminis¬ 
tration of,464-476; tour of,483; War articles in 
Century, publishes Memoirs, 501; death of, 502. 

GRAY, E. P., Inventor of telephone, 491. 

GREAT BRITAIN, Colonizes America, 34-49; 57- 
211; grants of territory by See Map II; extent 
of possessions of, (1655) See Map III; oppresses 
the colonies, 247-258 ; treaty with, 316, 317; trou¬ 
bles with, 331; doctrine of as to neutrals, 342. 

GREELEY, Horace, Notice of, 467. 

GREENE, Nathaniel, Saves army at Brandy¬ 
wine, 287; campaigns of in Carolinas, 309-313. 

G REN VILLE, Sir R. Commands Raleigh’s fleet, 40. 

GRIJALVA, Explorations of, 19. 

GUERRIERE, The, Affair of, 349. 

GUILFORD COURT nOUSE, Battle of, 311. 

GUITEAU, C. J., The Assassin, 488. 

HALF-KING, The, Relations of with Whites. 221. 

HALF-MOON, The, Voyages of, 50, 51. 

HALIFAX FISHERY AWARD, Account of, 481. 

HAMET, Ex-emperor of Tripoli, 339. 

HAMILTON, Alexander, Builder of Ft. Wash¬ 
ington, 276; defender of the Constitution, 321; 
secretary of the treasury, 328; first major-general 
of the army, 334 ; killed by Burr. 340. 

HANCOCK, Winfield S., dies. 503. 

HARMAR, General, Expedition of, 329. 

HARPER’S FERRY, Destruction of arsenal at,415 

HARRISON, Pres., 508; sketch,510; administra.,510 

HARRISON, William H., Governor of Indiana. 
345 , 346; at Tippecanoe, 346; in command of the 
Army of the West, 352; elected President, 383 ; 
sketch of, 383; administration of,383; death of,383. 

HARTFORD, Founding of, 94, 124. 

HARTFORD CONVENTION, Account of, 363. 

HARVARD COLLEGE, Founding of, 96. 

YES, Rutherford B. ; Elected President, 4*6 , 
sketch of, 476; administration of, 476-485. 

1IAYNE, Senator, Debate of with Webster, 376. 

HENDRICKS, T. A..Vice-President, 493; dies, 504. 

HENRY, Patrick, Makes some remarks in the 
House of Burgesses, 252; leads the people, 265. 

HERJULFSON, Mentioned. 13. 

HESSIANS, The, Hired to fight America, 270; 
overpowered at Trenton, 2<8. 

HOBKIRK’S HILL, Battle of, 312. 

'■HOOD, J. B., Driven from Atlanta, 447; defeated 
at Nashville, 448. 






524 


INDEX . 


HOOKER, Joseph, At Lookout Mountain, 439; in 
command of the Army of the Potomac, 441; at 
Chancellorsville, 441; dies, 503. 

HORNET, The, Affair of, 357. 

HOUSTON, Sam., sketch of, 409. 

HOWE, General, In command at Boston, 267; ne¬ 
gotiates with Washington, 272; sends a fleet up 
the Hudson, 280. 

HUDSON, Sir Henry, Efforts of to reach the In¬ 
dies, 50, 51; explorations of in America, 51,52; 
death of, 52. 

HUGUENOTS, The, Mentioned, 25,31; destruction 
of, 32; persecution of in France, 199. 

HULL, William, Disastrous campaign of, 347-349. 

HURON-IROQUOIS, The, Territorial position and 
character of, 8. See Map I. 

HUTCHINSON, Anne, Heresy of, 95; an exile to 
Rhode Island, 96; death of, 150. 

ICELANDERS, The, Discovery of America by, 13. 

ILLINOIS, Organization and admission of, 369. 

IMPORTATION ACT, The, Passage of, 249. 

IMPRESSMENT, Right of claimed by Great Brit¬ 
ain, 342, 347. 

INDEPENDENCE, Predicted by John Adams, 248; 
Declaration of, 271; achievement of, 317; centen¬ 
nial of, 471-473. 

INDIANA, Organization of, 337; admission of, 367. 

INDIANS, The North American, Name of, 7; 
origin of, 7; ethnology of, 7, 8; families, 8,9; 
characteristics of, 9, 10; arts of, 10; language of, 
10,11; writing of, 10; personal appearance of, 11 ; 
manners and customs of, 11, 12. 

INDIAN TERRITORY, The, Organization of, 377. 

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS, Question of, 368. 

INTERNAL REVENUE, The, Account of, 457. 

IROQUOIS, The, Territorial position of, 8; treaty 
with, 159, 223. 

ISABELLA, Favor of to Columbus, 16. 

JABLOKOFF, Inventor of electric light, 491. 

JACKSON, Andrew, In command against the 
Creeks, 355; at New Orleans, 364,365; against the 
Seminoles, 369; elected President, 374; sketch 
of, 374; administration of, 374-383; death of, 399. 

JACKSON, Stonewall, At Cedar Mountain, 434; 
at Chancellorsville, 441. 

JAMES II., Relations of with American colonies, 
See Massachusetts and Virginia. 

JAMESTOWN, Founding of, 45 ; affairs at, 57-75. 

JAPAN, Opening of intercourse with, 405. 

JAVA, The, Affair of, 350. 

JAY COOKE AND COMPANY, Failure of, 470. 

JAY, John, Defends the Constitution, 321; chief- 
justice, 328; negotiates treaty with England, 331. 

JEFFERSON, Thomas, Author of the Declaration, 
271; secretary of state, 328; Vice-President, 333 ; 
elected President, 336; administration of. 336- 
344; death of, 373. 

JESUITS, The, Discoveries and explorations of in 
America, 214 215. 

JOHNSON, Andrew, Elected Vice-President, 457; 
becomes President, 459; sketch of, 459; adminis¬ 
tration of, 459-463; impeachment of, 463; death 
of, 471. 

JOHNSTON, Joseph E., At Manassas, 421; wound¬ 
ed, 432; surrender of, 450. 

KANSAS, Troubles in, 406; organization of, 407. 

KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL, Account of, 406. 


KEARNEY, Philip, Expedition of to California, 
392; killed at Chantilly, 434. 

KEARSARGE, The, Destruction of, 452. 

KENESAW MOUNTAIN, Battle of. 446. 

KENTUCKY, Colonization of, 330 ; admission of, 330. 

KIDD, William, Career of, 163. 

KIEFT, William, Gov. of New Netherland, 149. 

KLAMATHS, The, territorial position of, 9. 

KOSSUTn, Louis,Visit of to theUnited States, 403. 

LABOR AGITATIONS, 496, 497. 

La FAYETTE, Marquis de, Gives himself to the 
cause of liberty, 282; campaign of in Virginia, 
314; visit of to America, 371. 

LANE, Ralph, Governor of Raleigh, 40. 

La ROCHE, Marquis of, Plans a colony, 32. 

La SALLE, Robert de. Explorations of, 214, 215. 

LAUDONNIERE, In Florida, 32. 

LAWRENCE, Captain. Death of, 358. 

LEE, Charles, Conduct of. 277; disobedience of at 
Monmouth, 293; dismissal of from service, 293. 

LEE, Richard Henry, Resolution of Independ¬ 
ence offered by, 271. 

LEE, Robert E., In West Virginia, 420; com¬ 
mander-in-chief of the Confederates, 432; in¬ 
vades Maryland. 434; at Antietam and Freder¬ 
icksburg, 435; at Chancellorsville, 441; invades 
Pennsylvania, 442; at Gettysburg, 443; in the 
Wilderness, 453; retreat of from Richmond, 456; 
surrender of, 456; death of, 470. 

LEISLER, Jacob, Leader of insurrection, 160. 

LEOPARD, The, Affair of, 342. 

LEWIS, Captain, Exploring expedition of, 340. 

LEWISTOWN, Founding of, 147. 

LEXINGTON, Battle of, 259. 

LIFE SAVING SERVICE, Established, 482. 

LINCOLN, Abraham, Elected President, 410; 
sketch of, 413; administration of, 413-459; issues 
Emancipation Proclamation, 436; reelected, 457; 
assassination of. 458; character of, 458. 

LITTLE BELT, The, Affair of, 346. 

LIVINGSTON, E., Agent to purchase La., 337. 

LOCKE, John, Prepares the Grand Model, 191. 

LOGAN, J. A., Writes Memoirs , 501; dies, 503. 

LONDON COMPANY, Organization of, 43; grant 
to, 43 and Map II; charter of, 44 ; fleet sent to 
America by, 44; dissolution of, 75. 

LONG ISLAND, Battle of, 273. 

LONGSTREET, General, See Lee's Campaigns. 

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Storming of, 439. 

LOUDOUN Lord, Career of in America, 233-236. 

LOUISBURG, Sieges of, 121-122; 237. 

LOUISIANA, Purchase of, 337; organization of, 
338; civil discord in, 469. 

LUNDY’S LANE, Battle of, 360. 

LYON, Nathaniel, In Missouri. 422. 


McCLELLAN, G. B., Memoirs, 501; dies, 503. 
MacDONOUGH, Commodore, At Plattsburg, 361. 
McDOWELL, Irwin, At Bull Run, 421; death,503. 
MADISON, James, Favors the Constitution, 321; 

Pres., 344 ; administration, 344-367 ; death, 380. 
MAGELLAN, Circumnavigation of globe by, 19. 
MAINE, Colonization of, 100; admission of, 370. 
MALVERN HILL. Battle of, 433. 

MANASSAS. Battle of. 421. 

MANDEVILLE, Views respecting earth, 15. 
MANHATTAN ISLAND, Purchase of, 146. 
MARION. Francis, Career of, 303, 304 312. 




INDEX. 


525 


MARSHALL, John, Embassy of to France, 333; in 
chief-justiceship, 338. 

MARYLAND, Colonized, 185; history of, 182-190. 

MASON, J. M., Embassador of the Confederacy to 
England, 424. 

MASONIAN DIFFICULTIES, The, Concerning 
New Hampshire, 138-141. 

MATHER, Cotton, Responsible for witchcraft 
atrocities, 115. 

MAY, Cornelius, Gov. of New Netherland, 146. 

McCLELLAN, George B., Campaign of in West 
Virginia, 420; in command of the Army of the 
Potomac, 424; Peninsular Campaign of, 431-434; 
at Antietam, 435; superseded, 435; candidate for 
the Presidency, 457. 

MEADE, George G., In command of the Army of 
the Potomac, 443; at Gettysburg, 443; in the 
Wilderness, 453; death of, 470. 

MEIGS, Colonel, Exploit of at Sag Harbor, 281. 

MELENDEZ, Pedro, Career of in Florida, 25, 26. 

MERRIMAC, The, Fight of with the Monitor, 428. 

MIANTONOMOH, Relations of with Roger Will¬ 
iams, 134. 

MICHIGAN, Organization of, 340; admission of, 380. 

MILL SPRING, Battle of, 426. 

MINNESOTA, Admission of, 409. 

MINUIT, Peter, Governor of New Netherland, 146. 

MISSIONARY RIDGE, Storming of, 439. 

MISSISSIPPI, Organization and admission of, 368. 

MISSOURI, Organization and admission of, 370. 

MISSOURI COMPROMISE, The, Account of, 370- 

MOBILIANS, Territorial position, 8 and Map 1. 

MODOCS, The, War with, 468. 

MONITOR, The, Fight of with the Merrimac, 428. 

MONMOUTH, Battle of, 293. 

MONROE, James, Agent to purchase of Louisiana, 
337; elected President, 367; sketch of, 367; ad¬ 
ministration of, 367-372; death of, 379. * 

MONROE DOCTRINE, The, Proclamation of, 371. 

MONTANA, admitted, 509. 

MONTEREY, Storming of, 391. 

MONTGOMERY, Richard, Expedition of against 
Canada, 265; death and sketch of, 266, 267. 

MONTREAL, Name of, 30; expedition against, 119. 

MOORE, James, Governor of South Carolina, 200. 

MORGAN, Daniel, At Bemis’s Heights, 285; at 
the Cowpens, 310. 

MORGAN, John, Raid of in Indiana and Ohio, 440. 

MORGAN, William, Disappearance of, 373. 

MORMONS, The, Account of, 385; rebellion of, 408, 

MORRIS, Robert, Devotes his fortune to liberty, 
278; secretary of finance, 308; ruined, 320. 

MORRIS, T. A., Campaign of in West Virginia, 420. 

MORSE, Professor S. F. B., Invention of tele¬ 
graph by, 387. 

MORTON, Oliver P., Death of, 485. 

MOSCOSO, Successor of De Soto, 24. 

MURFREESBOROUGH. Battle of, 430. 

NARVAEZ, Pamphilo De, Governor of Florida, 21. 

NASHVILLE, Siege of, 448. 

NATIONAL DEBT, The, Extent of, 460. 

NEGRO PLOT, The, Account of, 166. 

NEW AMSTERDAM, Founding of, 52; history of, 
145-155. 

NEW ENGLAND, Colonization of, 49; history of, 
87-142. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE, Colonization of, 138; history 
of, 138-142. 

VEW HAVEN, Founding of, 128- 


NEW JERSEY, Colonization of, 167; history of, 
167-172; division of, 169. 

NEW NETHERLAND, Name of, 52; history of, 
145-155; conquest of, 155. 

NEW ORLEANS, Battle of, 364, 365. 

NEWPORT, Christopher, Sent to America. 44. 

NEW SWEDEN, Colonization of, 149; history ofj 
149-153 ; conquest of, 153 , extent of, see Map III. 

NEW YORK, Colonized, 145 ; history of, 145-167. 

NEW YORK CITY, Settlement of, 52; under the 
Dutch, 145-155; under the English, 155-167; Brit¬ 
ish forces before, 272; captured by the British, 
275; evacuation of, 317. 

NEZ PERCES, War with, 479, 480. 

NICOLLS, Richard, Governor of New York, 156. 

NIPMUCKS, The, In King Philip’s War, 105. 

NORSEMEN, The, Discovery of America by, 13, 
14; traces of in Rhode Island, 135. 

NORTH CAROLINA, Colonization of, 190; history 
of, 190-195. 

NORTH DAKOTA, admitted, 509. 

NORTH-EASTERN BOUNDARY, Settled, 384. 

NORTH-WEST TERRITORY, Division of, 336. 

NULLIFICATION, Account of, 375, 376; a cause of 
the Civil War, 418.' 

OHIO, Organization and admission of, 336. 

OHIO COMPANY, Grant to, 210 and Diagram, p. 219. 

OGLETHORPE, James, Sketch of, 204; career of 
in Georgia; 205-209. 

OMNIBUS BILL, The, History of, 401. 

OPECHANCANOUGH, Notices of, 62, 75. 

ORDERS IN COUNCIL, The, Issued by Great 
Britain, 343; promised repeal of, 344. 

OSWALD, Richard, Agent for peace of 1783, 316. 

PACIFIC RAILROAD, The, Project of, 405; com¬ 
pletion of, 464. 

PALO ALTO, Battle of, 390. 

PAPER MONEY, First issue of in America, 113. 

PARRIS, Samuel, Responsible for witchcraft atroc¬ 
ities, 114,115. 

PATROONS, The Dutch, Colonize New Nether¬ 
land, 147. 

PAUL JONES, Great naval battle of, 300. 

PEACOCK, The, Affair of, 357. 

PENN, William, In New Jersey, 169; proprietor 
of Penn., 173; sketch of, 174; career of, 174-178. 

PENNSYLVANIA, Colonization of, 173-174; history 
of, 173-179. 

PENSIONS, Legislation concerning, 500 ; private 
bills, 502. 

PEPPERELL.SirWilliam,E xpedition of against 
Louisburg, 121. 

PEQUODS, The, War with, 125-128. 

PERRY, Oliver H., Victory of on Lake Erie, 353. 

PERRY, Com., Opens intercourse with Japan, 405. 

PETERSBURG, Siege of, 454, 455, 456. 

PHILADELPHIA, Founding of, 177; capture of by 
the British, 287. 

PHILIP, King, War with, 104-108. 

PHIPPS, Sir William, Connection of with Salem 
Witchcraft, 115. 

PHONOGRAPH, Invention of, 491. 

PICKETT, General, Charge of at Gettysburg, 443. 

PIERCE. Franklin, Elected President, 405; sketch 
of, 405; administration, 405-407. 

PINCKNEY, C. C., Pimbassy of to France, 333. 

PITT, William, Premier of England, 236; defends 
America, 254. 

PITTSBURG LANDING, Battle of, 426. 





INDEX. 


626 


PLYMOUTH, Founding of, 49. 

PLYMOUTH COMPANY, The, Organization of, 
43 ; grant to, 43 and Map II; dissolution of, 46. 
PLYMOUTH COUNCIL, Organization of, 46; grant 
to, 46 and Map II. 

POCAHONTAS, Story of, 63, 70, 71. 

POLK. James K., Elected President, 387; sketch 
of, 388; administration of, 388-399. 

POLK, Leonidas, Campaign of in Kentucky, 423. 
POPE, John, Campaign of in Virginia, 433, 434. 
PORT BILL, The Boston, Passage of, 257. 
PORTER, Admiral, Bombards Vicksburg, 437 ; at 
Fort Fisher, 451. 

PORT ROYAL, Founded, 33; siege of, 119. 
PORTUGUESE, The, Discoveries of in America, 27. 
POWHATAN, Relations with Jamestown, 58-74. 
PREBLE, Commodore, In the Mediterranean, 339. 
PRESCOTT, General, Capture of, 282. 
PRESIDENCY, The Disputed, History of, 475,476. 
PRESIDENT, The, Affair of, 346. 

PRINCETON. Battle of, 280. 

PRIN TING-PRESS, The, Set up in Cambridge,96. 
PROTECTION, Doctrine of,in campaign of 1888,507. 
PULASKI, Count, Honored for services, 287. 
PURITANS, The, Rise of, 46, 47; at Leyden, 47; 
voyage of to America, 48; compact of, 49; colo¬ 
nized Massachusetts, 49; character of, 123,124. 
PUTNAM, Israel, Exploit of, 296. 

QUAKERS, The, Arrival of at Boston, 100; perse¬ 
cutions of, 100,101 ; in New Jersey, 169,170; colo¬ 
nization of Pennsylvania by, 173-179. 

QUEBEC, Founding of, 34 ; capture of by Wolfe, 242; 

expedition of Arnold against, 265, 266. 

QFINCY, Josiah, Speaks for liberty, 257. 

I 

RAILROAD STRIKES, The, Account of, 478, 479. 
R ALEIGH, Sir W., Would colonize America, 39-41. 
RECONSTRUCTION, Question of, 461-463, 465. ■ 
RED RIVER EXPEDITION, The, Account of,445. 
REMONETIZATION OF SILVER, History of, 480. 
RESACA De La PALMA, Battle of, 390. 
RESUMPTION ACT, Passage of, 480, 482. 
REVENUE REFORM Bill defeated, 499. 
REVERE, Paul, Ride of, 259. 

REVOLUTION, The American, Causes of, 247- 
258 ; history of. 259-318. 

RHODE ISLAND, Colonization of, 93, 133; history 
of, 133-138; institutions of, 134, 135; traces of 
Norsemen in, 135 ; domestic difficulties, 384. 
RIBAULT, John, Voyages of. 31. 

RICHMOND, Capital of the Confederacy, 415; evac¬ 
uation and burning of, 456. 

ROANOKE ISLAND, Attempts to colonize, 40, 41. 
ROBERVAL, Lord, Voyage of, 30. 

ROBINSON, John, Notices of, 47, 89. 

ROEBLING, J. A., Architect of East R. Bridge, 492. 
ROEBLING, W. A., Builder of East R. Bridge, 492. 
IiOLFE, John, Account of, 70, 71. 

ROSECRANS, William S., At Murfroesborough, 
430; at Chickamauga, 439. 

RYSWICK, Treaty of, 114. 

SAG HARBOR, Capture of, 281. 

SALEM. Founded, 90: witchcraft at, 114-117. 
SANDER’S CREEK, Battle of, 304. 

SANDYS, Sir Edwyn, Governor of Virginia, 73. 
SANTA ANNA, At Buena Vista, 393; at Cerro 
Gordo, 395; driven from Mexico. 397. 

SANTO DOMINGO, Project to annex, 466. 


SAVANNAH, Founding of. 205; conquest of, 295; 
capture of by Sherman, 448 

SA YLE, William, Governor of South Carolina, 196. 

SCHUYLER, General, In command of the North¬ 
ern Army, 283. 

SCOTT, Winfield, At Lundy’s Lane. 360; plans 
invasion of Mexico, 390; at Vera Cruz, 394; at 
Cerro Gordo, 395; enters Mexico, 397; com¬ 
mander-in-chief of the Union Army, 415. 

SEA-KINGS, The, In America, 14; mentioned, 135. 

SECESSION, Account of, 411, 415. 

SELISH, The, Territorial position of, 9 and Map I. 

SEMINOLES, The, War with, 368, 377. 

SEVEN DAYS’ BATTLES, The, 432, 433. 

SEWARD,W. H., Secretary State, 413; diplomacy, 
425; attempted assassination. 458; dies, 470. 

SEYMOUR, Horatio, dies, 504. 

SHERIDAN, Phil. H.,In Shenandoah Valley, 455: 
in command of army, 493; writes Memoirs , 501. 

SHERMAN, W. T., At Chickasaw Bayou, 430; 
Chattanooga to Atlanta, 446, 447; march of to 
the sea, 448; Savannah to Raleigh, 449; retires, 
493; publishes Memoirs, 501. 

SHIRLEY, Sir William, Gov. of Massachusetts, 
230; campaign of against the French, 230-232. 

SHOSHONEES, The, Territ’l position of, 9 Map I. 

SIGEL, Franz, In Missouri, 423. 

SILVER, Remonetization of, 480. 

SIX NATIONS, The, Treaty with, 165, 223. 

SLAVERY, Introduction of, 72; exclusion of from 
Georgia, 206 ; a cause of the civil war, 417; abol¬ 
ished by the Emancipation Proclamation, 436 ; 
congressional abolition of, 459. 

SLIDELL, John, Embassador of the Confederacy, 
424 ; capture and liberation of, 424, 425. 

SLOUGHTER, W., Gov. of New York. 161. 

SMITH, John, Voyages of in New England, 45, 46; 
troubles of, 57-59; sketch of, 59; captivity of, 
61-63; explores the Chesapeake, 64-66; President 
of Virginia, 66; returns to England, 68. 

SMYTH, Alexander, On Niagara frontier, 351. 

SONS OF LIBERTY, Organized, 254. 

SOTHEL, Seth, Career of in North Carolina, 193; 
in South Carolina, 199. 

SOUTH CAROLINA, Colonization of, 196; history 
of, 196-203. 

SOUTH DAKOTA Admitted, 509. 

SPAIN, Discovers and colonizes America, 16-27; 
territorial possessions of in 1655, See Map III; 
treaty with, 369. 

SPECIE CIRCULAR, Notice of, 381. 

SPRINGFIELD, Battle of, 423. 

SQUANTO, The interpreter. 88. 

STAMP ACT, The, Passage of, 251; provisions of, 
251; repeal of, 254. 

STANDISH, Miles, General of New England, 87. 

STANTON, Edwin M., Secretary of war, 413; 
death of, 470. 

STATE RIGHTS, The Doctrine of, Advocated 
in South Carolina, 375, 376; a cause of the Civil 
War, 416. 

ST. AUGUSTINE, Founding of, 26. 

ST. CLAIR, Arthur, At Ticonderoga, 283; gov¬ 
ernor N. W. Ter.. 329; expedition ol, 329, 330. 

STEAMBOAT, The, Invention of, 343. 

STEVENS, Alexander II., Opposes secession, 
411; Vice-President of the Confederacy, 412; 
Publishes The War Between the States, 501. 

STONEMAN, General, Cavalry raid of, 442. 







INDEX. 


527 


STONY POINT, Capture of by the British, 296; re¬ 
taken by Wayne, 297. 

STUYVESANT, Peter, Administration of in New 
Netherland, 151-155. 

SULLIVAN, General, Besieges Newport, 293, 294. 

SUMNER, Charles, Sketch and death of, 471. 

SUMTER, Thomas, Career of in the Carolinas, 303, 
304, 312. 

SUPREME COURT, The, Organization of, 328. 

SWEDEN, Colonizes Delaware, 148, 149. 

TARIFF, The, Question of, 374, 375, 492. 

TAXATION, Right of claimed by England, 249. 

TAYLOR, Bayard, Death of, 485. 

TAYLOR, Zachary, Sent to occupy Texas, 388; at 
Buena Vista, 393; elected President, 399; sketch 
of, 400; administration of, 400-402; death of, 402. 

TEA-PARTY, The Boston, Is celebrated, 257. 

TEA-TAX, The, Enacted, 254, 256. 

TECUMTHA, War with, 345-346; death of, 354. 

TELEGRAPH, Invention erf, 387. 

TELEGRAPH, The Atlantic, See Cable. 

TELEPHONE, Invention of, 491 

TENNESSEE, Colonized. 255 ; admitted, 332. 

TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT, Of the United 
States, 465, 466. 

TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES, Fi¬ 
nal form of, 461. 

TEXAS, Early history of, 386; annexation of to the 
United States, 388. 

TICONDEROGA, Expedition against, 231 ; attack 
on, 237 ; capture of, 261. 

TILDEN, S. J., dies, 504. 

TIPPECANOE, Battle of, 346. 

TOMPKINS, Daniel D., Vice-Pres ident, 367, 370. 

TORONTO, Capture of, 356. 

TREATY, Of Ryswick, 114; of Utrecht, 120; of 
Aix-La-Chapelle, 122; of Paris (1763), 242; of with 
France, 291; definitive of 1783, 316,317; Jay’s, 331; 
of Ghent, 365,366; of Washington (1819), 369; the 
Webster-Ashburton, 384; of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 
398; of Washington (1872), 466. 

TRENT, The, Affair of, 424. 

TRENTON, Battle of, 278. 

TRIPOLI, Besieged by Preble, .339. 

TUSCARORAS, The, Migration of, 165. 

TYLER, John, Vice-President, 383; President, 383; 
sketch of, 383; administration of, 383-388. 

UNION, The American, Formation of, 320-323; 
Supreme Court of the, 505, 506. 

UTAH, Coloniz ition of, 386; rebellion in. 408. 

UTRECHT, Treaty of, 120. 

VALLEY FORGE, American army at, 289. 

Van BUREN. Martin, Elected President, 380; 
sketch of, 380; administration of, 380-383. 

VANE, Sir II., in Now Eng.,94; defends liberty, 99. 

VERMONT, Admission of, 329. 

VERRAZZANI, John' Voyage of, 28. 

VESPUCCI, Amerigo, Voyage of, 17. 

VICKSBURG, Siege of, 437, 438. 

VINLAND, Norse name of New England, 14. 

VIRGINIA, Name of, 40; colonization of, 45, 57; 
history of, 57-84. 

WADSWORTH, William, Hides the charter, 111, 
131; baffles Fletcher, 131. 

WAITE. M. R., dies, 505. 

V r A LKER, Sir II., Expedition against Quebec.119. 


WALLACE, Lewis, At Romney, 421; in defense of 
Cincinnati, 429; on the Monocacy, 454. 

WALLOONS, The, In America, 145. 

WAR, King Philip’s, 103-108; King William’s, 111- 
114; Queen Anne’s, 118-120; King Geoige’s, 120- 
122; Pequod, 125-128; French and Indian, 213-243; 
the Revolutionary, 247-318; of 1812, 344-367; the 
Seminole, 368, 377, 381; the Black Hawk, 376; 
with Mexico, 388-398 ; the Civil, 413-456; the Mo¬ 
doc, 468 ; the Sioux, 473-475; the Nez Perce, 479. 

WARREN, Commodore, Expedition of, 121. 

WARREN, Joseph, At Bunker Hill, 262. 

WASHINGTON CITY, Founding of, 335. 

WASHINGTON, A. and L., Mentioned, 216. 

WASHINGTON, George, Sent by Dinwiddie to 
the French, 218; builds and defends Fort Neces¬ 
sity, 221, 222; campaign of with Braddock, 221- 
227; made general-in-chief, 264; sketch of, 264; 
negotiations of with Howe, 272; saves the army 
at Long Island, 274; retreat of across New Jer¬ 
sey, 276; at Trenton, 278; at Princeton, 279; at 
Brandywine, 286; sorrows of, 289; at Monmouth, 
293; at Yorktown, 315; favors union, 320; chosen 
President, 323; administration of, 327-333; Fare¬ 
well Address of, 332; reappointed commander- 
in-chief, 334; death of, 335. 

WASHINGTON, John, Mentioned, 81. 

WASHINGTON MONUMENT, Completed,493,494. 

WASHINGTON, State of, admitted, 509. 

WASP, The, Affair of. 349. 

WAYMOUTH, George, Voyage of, 43. 

WAYNE, Anthony, At Stony Point, 297; expedi¬ 
tion of against the Indians. 331; death of, 331. 

WEBSTER, Daniel, Debate with Hayne,376; con¬ 
cludes the Ashburton treaty, 384 ; death of, 404. 

WESLEY, Charles, Methodist and poet, 207. 

WESLEY, John, In Georgia, 206. 

WHIG PARTY, The, In power, 383 ; 399. 

WHISKY INSURRECTION, Account of, 330. 

WHITE, John, Governor of Raleigh, 41. 

WHITEFIELD, George, In Georgia, 207. 

WHITNEY, Eli, Inventor of the Cotton Gin, 417- 

WILDERNESS, The, Battles in, 453. 

WILKINSON, General, Commander-in-chief of 
American Army, 356. 

WILLIAMS FAMILY, The, Story of, 118. 

WILLIAMS, Roger, Minister at Salem, 92; exile 
of, 92; founder of Providence, 93; sketch of, 133. 

WILMOT PROVISO, The, Account of. 399. 

WILSON, Henry, Vice-President,467; death of, 471. 

WINGFIELD, Edward, Pres, of Virginia, 58, 59. 

WTNTHROP. John, Governor of Massachusetts, 91. 

WINTIIROP, The Younger, Votes against perse¬ 
cution, 100; leader of the Conn, colony, 129,130. 

WISCONSIN, Admission of, 399. 

WITCHCRAFT, The Salem, Story of, 114-117. 

WOLFE, James, Expedition of against Quebec, 
239-242; death of, 242. 

WOOL, Gen., Musters forces for Mexican War, 391. 

I WORLD’S FAIR, The, Account of, 406. 

WYATT, Sir Francis, Governor of Virginia. 72. 

WYOMING, Massacre of, 294. 

YALE COLLEGE, Founding of, 132. 

YAMASSEES, The, War with, 202. 

YEAMANS, Sir John, Governor of Carolina, 191. 

YEARDLEY, Sir George, Gov. of Virginia, 72. 

YELLOW FEVER, The, Account of, 480. 

YORKTOWN. Siege of, 315. 

1 YUSEFF. The Emperor, Brought tohissenses,339. 
























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